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Self‐Assembly of Poly(3‐hexylthiophene)‐ block ‐poly(γ‐benzyl‐ L ‐glutamate) within Solution‐Cast Films and Nanofibers
Author(s) -
Kapllani Alda,
Dillard Caitlin,
Washington Katherine E.,
Biewer Michael C.,
Stefan Mihaela C.,
Kalra Vibha
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
macromolecular materials and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.913
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1439-2054
pISSN - 1438-7492
DOI - 10.1002/mame.201400148
Subject(s) - nanofiber , materials science , copolymer , self assembly , annealing (glass) , electrospinning , transmission electron microscopy , solvent , chemical engineering , polymer chemistry , dynamic light scattering , nanotechnology , composite material , polymer , nanoparticle , organic chemistry , chemistry , engineering
We report the fabrication and self‐assembly study of solution‐cast films and electrospun nanofibers of poly(3‐hexylthiophene)‐ block ‐poly(γ‐benzyl‐ L ‐glutamate) (P3HT‐ b ‐PBLG) rod–rod diblock copolymer. X‐ray scattering and transmission electron microscopy revealed hierarchical self‐assembly in P3HT‐ b ‐PBLG with ordered structures at two length scales: block copolymer self‐assembly between P3HT and PBLG (≈11nm) and molecular ordering within each block (0.4–1.6 nm). Vapor pressure of the casting solvent was proven critical in both levels of assembly for films. However, as‐spun nanofibers exhibit poorly developed structures, regardless of solvent, due to rapid evaporation during electrospinning. Upon annealing, molecular structures exhibited clear signatures of both blocks in nanofibers.