Lateral versus perpendicular segregation in mixed polymer brushes

Grafting of incompatible polymers on a substrate prevents macrophase separation and the chains self-assemble laterally. Mixed brushes are exposed to different solvents and the morphology is observed via atomic force and x-ray photoemission microscopy. In a nonselective solvent the different species...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2002-01, Vol.88 (3), p.035502-035502, Article 035502
Main Authors: Minko, S, Müller, M, Usov, D, Scholl, A, Froeck, C, Stamm, M
Format: Article
Language:English
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Grafting of incompatible polymers on a substrate prevents macrophase separation and the chains self-assemble laterally. Mixed brushes are exposed to different solvents and the morphology is observed via atomic force and x-ray photoemission microscopy. In a nonselective solvent the different species segregate into parallel cylinders ("ripple structure"). Upon exposure to a selective solvent, we encounter a transition to a "dimple" structure, in which the unfavored component forms clusters. Simultaneously, we observe an enhanced perpendicular segregation. The experimental observations are compared to self-consistent field calculations, where qualitative agreement is found.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.035502