Phase Behavior of Block Copolymers in Selective Solvents

Phase Behavior of Block Copolymers in Selective Solvents
Author: Yongsheng Liu
Publisher:
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2008
Genre:
ISBN:

Abstract: The goal of this research is to study the phase behavior and kinetics of order-order (OOT) and order-disorder (ODT) phase transitions in block copolymers in selective solvents. We focus on examining temperature and pressure dependence of the phase diagram and the kinetics of phase transitions using small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS). The kinetics of ODT and OOT was studied for two block copolymer solutions by time-resolved SAXS using temperature ramp and fast quench methods: (i) Poly(styrene- b -isoprene) (PS-PI) diblock copolymer in tetradecane, selective solvent for PI, which displayed face-centered-cubic (FCC) structure at low temperature, body-centered-cubic (BCC) at intermediate temperature, and was disordered at high temperature. Following a quench from 110 C to 50 C, a long-lived meta-stable BCC phase was detected prior to the formation of FCC. The data agrees very well with Cahn's model for nucleation and growth. (ii) Poly(styrene- b -ethylene- co -butylene- b -styrene) triblock copolymer in dibutyl phthaphate, selective solvent for PS, which displayed hexagonally packed cylinders (HEX) at low temperature and lamellar (LAM) phase at high temperatures. This is unusual because in most block copolymer melts LAM occurs at lower temperature than HEX. A geometric model was developed to understand the mechanism of the transition from LAM to HEX. The calculated scattering intensity agrees very well with the experimental data. A pressure network system for SAXS capable of operating in the range of 1-4000 bars with pressure jump capability was built to study the pressure dependence of phase behavior. The system was used to investigate PS-PI diblock copolymer in diethyl phthaphate. The BCC to disorder transition temperature increased with pressure at 20 C/kbar, and the lattice constant increased with pressure. Brownian Molecular Dynamics simulations were carried out to study the phase behavior of multiblock copolymers in a selective solvent. Disordered, BCC, HEX, and LAM phases were obtained depending on the concentration and number of blocks. This research provides detailed information of the kinetics of structural changes in block copolymers in selective solvents. The results provide a good understanding of the mechanism of order-disorder and order-order transitions, and are directly related to industrial applications of block copolymers.

Activity report

Activity report
Author: Brookhaven National Laboratory. National Synchrotron Light Source
Publisher:
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2004
Genre:
ISBN:

Phase Behavior and Kinetics of Cylinder to Sphere Transition in Block Copolymers in Selective Solvents

Phase Behavior and Kinetics of Cylinder to Sphere Transition in Block Copolymers in Selective Solvents
Author: Minghai Li
Publisher:
Total Pages: 324
Release: 2008
Genre:
ISBN:

Abstract: The main goal of this dissertation is to study the phase behavior and kinetics of cylinder to sphere phase transition in block copolymers in selective solvents using time- resolved small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS), rheology, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), modeling and simulation. Block copolymers consist of two or more chemically distinct polymer blocks connected by a covalent bond. The incompatibility of the constituent blocks leads to phase separation on length scales of 10-1000 nm instead of bulk phase separation. The addition of a selective solvent which preferentially solubilizes one of the components further enriches the phase behavior and provides easier control over the morphology of micellar domains. Although many studies have been made on the phase diagrams of block copolymer solutions the kinetics of phase transitions between two different crystalline symmetries are less understood. The experiments were conducted on a triblock copolymer of poly(styrene- b -ethylene- co -butylene- b -styrene) (SEBS), in mineral oil, a solvent selective to middle EB block. AFM measurements clearly showed the cylindrical micelles arranged hexagonally (HEX) at 110°C. Synchrotron based time-resolved SAXS measurements showed that the transition from HEX to spherical micelles arranged on body-centered cubic (BCC) lattice occurs via a nucleation and growth mechanism for shallow temperature jumps and via spinodal decomposition for deep temperature jumps. We developed a geometrical model of coupled anisotropic fluctuations to calculate the scattering and found very good agreement with the SAXS data. Brownian Molecular Dynamics simulations were carried out to provide microscopic insights on the HEX to cubic transition. HEX, face-centered cubic (FCC), lamellar, and hexagonally perforated lamellar ordered phases were obtained depending on the concentration, temperature and solvent selectivity. Kinetics of HEX to FCC was examined by quenching the temperature or rapidly changing the well-depth of the Lennard-Jones potential used in the simulation. The observations from snapshots, density profiles and calculated scattering intensity all agree well with the nucleation and growth mechanism. This work provides a detailed understanding of the mechanism and kinetics of phase transition of cylinders to spheres in block copolymer solution system. The results have relevance to block copolymer processing and other applications.

Order-Disorder Transitions in Cross-Linked Block Copolymer Solids

Order-Disorder Transitions in Cross-Linked Block Copolymer Solids
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2005
Genre:
ISBN:

With a view toward creating solid block copolymers wherein the order-disorder transition can be accessed many times they investigated the nature of order-disorder transitions in cross-linked diblock copolymer melts using synergistic theory and experiment. A mean-field theory based on a coarse grained free-energy and the Random Phase Approximation (RPA) is developed for the system of interest. The quenched distribution of cross-links is averaged using the replica method. The phase behavior of a particular A-B block copolymer melt with a randomly cross-linked B-Block is determined as a function of the Florry-Huggins interaction parameter ([chi]) and the average number of cross-links per chain N{sub c}. They find for a cross-link density greater than N*{sub c} the B monomers are localized within a region of size [zeta] H"(N{sub c} - N*{sub c})−12. The cross-links strongly oppose ordering in the system as [zeta] becomes comparable to the radius of gyration of the block copolymer chain. As such the order-disorder transition temperature T{sub ODT} decreases precipitously when N{sub c}> N*{sub c}. When N{sub c}