Structural characterization of block copolymers films at the air/water interface and deposited on solid substrates.

DOS SANTOS CLARO, P.C.; COUSTET, M. E.; DÍAZ, C.; CORTIZO, SUSANA; REQUEJO, F.G.; PIETRASANTA, LÍA I.; AZZARONI, O.

Bahía Blanca

Congreso; IV Congreso Argentino de Materia Blanda; 2012

Understanding and controlling the processes in block copolymer monolayers at the air/water interface during surface area compression is a key issue for producing ultrathin films of predetermined morphology with well-defined order and known dimensions. The hydrophobic blocks aggregate to form isolated structures of different shapes mainly depending on the block copolymer composition, which are stabilized by surface-active hydrophilic blocks spread on the water surface (Zhu, et al., 1991). The surface micelles exhibit various shapes from circular micelles to large planar aggregates via rod-shaped micelles mainly depending on the relative size of the two blocks. To exploit these morphologies, it is essential to know and understand the factors that control them and the transitions between them (Hamley, 2003). In this work we investigated the effect of the pH and ionic strength on the monolayer formation and surface micellization behavior of polybenzyl methacrylate-b-poly(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate (PBzMA-b-PDMAEMA) diblock copolymers at the air-water interface by the surface pressure vs. area isotherms and the morphology of the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films. References Chung, B.; Choi, M.; Ree, M.; Jung, J.C.; Zin, W.C.; Chang, T. Macromolecules 39, 684 (2006). Gohy, J.-F.; Antoun, S.; Jerome, R. Macromolecules 34, 7435 (2001). Hamley, I. W. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., 42, 1692 (2003).