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Microphase‐Separated Brushes on Square Platelets in PS‐ b ‐PEO Thin Films
Author(s) -
Yang Ping,
Han Yanchun
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
macromolecular rapid communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.348
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1521-3927
pISSN - 1022-1336
DOI - 10.1002/marc.200900227
Subject(s) - materials science , polystyrene , ethylene oxide , poly ethylene , polymer chemistry , evaporation , oxide , melting point , chemical engineering , thin film , solvent , square (algebra) , composite material , copolymer , polymer , ethylene , nanotechnology , chemistry , organic chemistry , thermodynamics , catalysis , physics , metallurgy , engineering , geometry , mathematics
In polystyrene‐ block ‐poly(ethylene oxide) thin films, microphase‐separated brushes on the square platelets can be obtained via fast solvent evaporation by controlling the tethering density (0.08 < σ < 0.11). The tethering density of the brushes is proportional to the thickness of the PEO crystal and increases with increasing initial solution heating temperature ( T i ). When T i < T m , where T m is the melting point of PEO, brushes with microphase‐separated structures are observed. The formation of microphase‐separated brushes depends on two factors: the strong incompatibility between PS and noncrystalline PEO chains (attached to the crystalline PEO) and the weak interaction between PS‐PS brushes.