Diblock copolymers of polystyrene-b-poly(1,3-cyclohexadiene) exhibiting unique three-phase microdomain morphologies

Konstantinos Misichronis, Jihua Chen, Jong K. Kahk, Adam Imel, Mark Dadmun, Kunlun Hong, Nikos Hadjichristidis, Jimmy W. Mays, Apostolos Avgeropoulos

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

The synthesis and molecular characterization of a series of conformationally asymmetric polystyrene-block-poly(1,3-cyclohexadiene) (PS-b-PCHD) diblock copolymers (PCHD: ∼90% 1,4 and ∼10% 1,2), by sequential anionic copolymerization high vacuum techniques, is reported. A wide range of volume fractions (0.27≤ϕPS≤0.91) was studied by transmission electron microscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering in order to explore in detail the microphase separation behavior of these flexible/semiflexible diblock copolymers. Unusual morphologies, consisting of PCHD core(PCHD-1,4)-shell(PCHD-1,2) cylinders in PS matrix and three-phase (PS, PCHD-1,4, PCHD-1,2) four-layer lamellae, were observed suggesting that the chain stiffness of the PCHD block and the strong dependence of the interaction parameter χ on the PCHD microstructures are important factors for the formation of this unusual microphase separation behavior in PS-b-PCHD diblock copolymers. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1564-1572
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics
Volume54
Issue number16
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 29 2016

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