Diblock copolymers of polystyrene‐b‐poly(1,3‐cyclohexadiene) exhibiting unique three‐phase microdomain morphologies |
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| Authors: | Konstantinos Misichronis Jihua Chen Jong K Kahk Adam Imel Mark Dadmun Kunlun Hong Nikos Hadjichristidis Jimmy W Mays Apostolos Avgeropoulos |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge, Tennessee;2. Department of Chemistry, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee;3. Department of Materials Science Engineering, University of Ioannina, University Campus‐Dourouti, Greece;4. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Neutron Sciences Directorate, Oak Ridge, Tennessee;5. Physical Sciences and Engineering Division, KAUST Catalysis Center, Polymer Synthesis Laboratory, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia |
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| 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 ≤ ?PS ≤ 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. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016 , 54, 1564–1572 |
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| Keywords: | anionic polymerization diblock copolymers differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) TEM SAXS |
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