Abstract
The effect of addition of A homopolymer chains to HEX phases formed by cylindrical micelles obtained by dissolving an AB diblock copolymers in an A selective solvent was investigated. The following general trends were observed: (i) order-order transitions from HEX → Gyroid (G) → Lamellae (LAM); (ii) the inter-cylinder spacing of the HEX phase increased; (iii) when the homopolymer molecular weight and concentration was high, macrophase separation of the system occurred. The A homopolymer chains do not mix significantly with the A domain of the diblock due to excluded volume interactions, causing the corona chain brush to contract. As a result, order-order transitions that reduce the interfacial curvature are observed.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 352-361 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Macromolecular Rapid Communications |
Volume | 30 |
Issue number | 4-5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 18 2009 |
Keywords
- Block copolymer
- Depletion interactions
- Micelles
- Order-order transition
- Selective solvent