Bulk and Solution Properties of Model PS-b-PDMS Copolymers

M.D. NINAGO; A.J. SATTI; D.A. VEGA; E.M. VALLÉS; M.A. VILLAR; A.E. CIOLINO

Houffalize

Congreso; Annual Meeting of the Belgian Polymer Group (BPG 2011); 2011

 Block copolymers are an important class of polymeric materials, because of their ability to self-assemble into supramolecular structures, either in bulk or in selective solvents. Model linear poly(styrene-b-dimethylsiloxane), PS-b-PDMS copolymers were synthesized by using sequential addition of monomers and anionic polymerization (high-vacuum techniques). Copolymers were chemically characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), size-exclusion chromatography (SEC), and small angle X-rays scattering (SAXS), and  the structure of polystyrene-shell micelles in cyclohexane, dimethylacetamide, or dimethylformamide was obtained by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and static and dynamic light scattering (SLS and DLS) techniques. Insights into the relationship between the macromolecular characteristics and the conformation of the chains in the micellar structure (core and shell) are provided by accessing multilevel structural organization and by associating such data with polymer-polymer and polymer-solvent interaction parameters.