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Area of Science:

  • Materials Science
  • Polymer Chemistry
  • Nanotechnology

Background:

  • Controlling the self-assembly of block copolymers (BCPs) is crucial for creating ordered nanostructures.
  • Surface modification with polymer brushes offers a route to guide BCP self-assembly.
  • Achieving long-range order in BCP thin films, especially with varying compositions, remains a challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop a simple, rapid, and robust technique for controlling BCP self-assembly.
  • To investigate the effect of different surface-grafted polymer brushes on BCP thin film morphology.
  • To achieve controlled orientation and long-range ordering of microdomains in BCPs with a large segmental interaction parameter (χ).

Main Methods:

  • End-grafting of functionalized polymers (poly(styrene-b-ethylene oxide)s, neat polystyrene, neat poly(ethylene oxide)) onto silicon substrates to create polymer brushes.
  • Preparation of thin films of cylinder-forming poly(styrene-b-ethylene oxide) on modified substrates.
  • Thermal annealing of the BCP thin films to induce self-assembly.

Main Results:

  • Using neat polystyrene or poly(ethylene oxide) brushes resulted in microdomains oriented parallel to the substrate.
  • Employing end-functionalized poly(styrene-b-ethylene oxide) brushes led to hexagonally packed cylindrical poly(ethylene oxide) microdomains oriented normal to the substrate.
  • This normal orientation with long-range lateral ordering was achieved over a wide range of poly(styrene) fractions (f(PS) from 0.32 to 0.77).

Conclusions:

  • Surface modification with end-functionalized BCP brushes provides effective control over microdomain orientation in BCP thin films.
  • This method enables the fabrication of highly ordered nanostructures with potential applications in nanotechnology.
  • The technique is robust and applicable to a wide range of BCP compositions.