Ordered diblock copolymer blends have recently become the subject of tremendous research interest since they can be used to elucidate the intramicrodomain segregation of blocks differing in length, as well as to identify the molecular and blend parameters yielding phase immiscibility. In this work, we explore the influence of molecular architecture on block copolymer blend miscibility by examin...

A simple, straightforward process for fabricating multi-scale micro- and nanostructured patterns from polystyrene-block-poly(2-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P2VP)/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) homopolymer in a preferential solvent for PS and PMMA is demonstrated. When the PS-b-P2VP/PMMA blend films were spin-coated onto a silicon wafer, PS-b-P2VP micellar arrays consisting of a PS corona and a P2VP c...

The last two decades have seen an explosion of research activity in the area of self-assembled polymeric and supramolecular materials. Self-assembly schemes rely on an often delicate balance between competing repulsive and attractive forces between structural elements. In traditional coil-coil block copolymers, microphase separated structures are dictated by the balance of immiscibility between...

The Flory-Huggins interaction is measured for a model rod-coil block copolymer system, poly(alkoxyphenylenevinylene-b-isoprene), by fitting the interfacial segregation of block copolymer to a homopolymer interface and by using the random phase approximation (RPA) for block copolymers. The measured interfacial segregation of a block copolymer to the interface between homopolymers, fit with a sel...

Atom Transfer Radical Polymerisation (ATRP) has been used to polymerise ammonium 2-sulfatoethyl methacrylate (SEM) in aqueous media using various poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) macro-initiators to give a range of controlled-structure, sulfate-based block copolymers. Such PEG–SEM diblock copolymers are effective crystal habit modifiers for the in situ precipitation of BaSO4 in dilute aqueous soluti...

Chemically patterned surfaces have been successfully employed to direct the kinetics of self-assembly of block copolymers into dense, periodic morphologies (”chemoepitaxy”). Significant efforts have been directed towards understanding the kinetics of structure formation and, particularly, the formation and annihilation of defects. In the present manuscript we use computer simulations of a soft,...

One way to produce high order in a block copolymer thin film is by solution casting a thin film and slowly evaporating the solvent in a sealed vessel. Such a solvent-annealing process is a versatile method to produce a highly ordered thin film of a block copolymer. However, the ordered structure of the film degrades over time when stored under ambient conditions. Remarkably, this aging process ...

Thermally responsive bulk polymer films utilizing reversible Diels-Alder chemistry have been developed. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were passivated with thiol-terminated poly(styrene)-b-poly(ethylene glycol) (PS-b-PEG) copolymer ligand, where the PS and PEG blocks are joined via a Diels-Alder (DA) linkage. The ligand-functionalized nanoparticles were dispersed within a microphase-separated PS-b-...

Diblock copolymer vesicles are prepared via RAFT dispersion polymerization directly in mineral oil. Such vesicles undergo a vesicle-to-worm transition on heating to 150 °C, as judged by TEM and SAXS. Variable-temperature 1 H NMR spectroscopy indicates that this transition is the result of surface plasticization of the membrane-forming block by hot solvent, effectively increasing the volume frac...