JUN-AUG 2008 | VOLUME 3 | NUMBER 3-4 38 Block copolymers occupy a huge area of research because they offer a vast range of possibilities for architecture, size, and chemical composition. Advances in polymer chemistry1, such as anionic polymerisation2 and most recently living radical polymerization3, have enabled a vast array of block copolymers to be synthesized with great control over their ar...

the microstructure and thermal properties of the synthesized block copolymers and terpolymers via atom transfer radical polymerization (atrp) were studied. the mole fraction of the blocks and chain length of the pvac-b-pma block copolymers were estimated with 1h nmr spectroscopy.differential scanning calorimety measurement shows two different transitions at 36°c and 8°c assigned to pvac and pma...

Combined with an approximation suggested by Taylor and Lipson for the third-order correlation function and the translational invariance approximation, the BGY equation is used to calculate the conformation and thermodynamic properties of a diblock square-well copolymer or a random square-well copolymer. The BGY results for the end-to-end distribution of copolymers are in good agreement with Mon...

Hydrophobic ultrahigh molecular weight bottlebrush block copolymer and linear block copolymer of polystyrene-polylactide (PS-PLA) were shown to be capable of forming Langmuir monolayers and exhibiting unique assembly behaviors at the air/water interface, which cannot be addressed by the classic theory of Langmuir monolayer of amphiphilic copolymers. New models were proposed to illustrate these ...

In this report, hierarchical self-organization of poly(tert-butyl acrylate) (PtBA) brushand mixed PtBA/ polystyrene (PS) brush-grafted silica nanoparticles (NPs) in PtBA-b-PS block copolymer and PtBA/PS polymer blend matrices having different molecular weights was investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Driven by the entropic interactions between the brushes and the polymer m...

Phase separation of asymmetric diblock copolymer near surfaces in selective solvents is theoretically investigated by using the real-space version of self-consistent field theory (SCFT). Several morphologies are predicted and the phase diagram is constructed by varying the distance between two parallel hard surfaces (or the film thickness) W and the block copolymer concentration f(P). Morpholog...

This article deals with recent progress including the author’s work in the field of block copolymer self-assembly in solution and on solid surfaces. The synthesis methods for producing block copolymers with well-defined structures, molecular weights and composition are outlined with emphasis on ionic and controlled free radical polymerization techniques. A general overview of the preparation, c...

Organic electronic materials have the potential to impact almost every aspect of modern life including how we access information, light our homes, and power personal electronics. Nevertheless, weak intermolecular interactions and disorder at junctions of different organic materials limit the performance and stability of organic interfaces and hence the applicability of organic semiconductors to...

The fabrication of nanoporous poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and PVDF/nickel nanocomposites from semicrystalline block copolymer precursors is reported. Polystyrene-block-poly(vinylidene fluoride)-block-polystyrene (PS-b-PVDF-b-PS) is prepared through functional benzoyl peroxide initiated polymerization of VDF, followed by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of styrene. The crystalliz...

We report chemical modification of self-assembled block copolymer thin films by ultraviolet light that enhances the block-selective affinity of organometallic precursors otherwise lacking preference for either copolymer block. Sequential precursor loading and reaction facilitate formation of zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, and aluminum oxide nanostructures within the polystyrene domains of both l...