Mechanism of grain structure formation and microdomain structures in semi-dilute solutions of block copolymers

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24550250
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Polymer/Textile materials
• Research Institution: Nagoya Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: SHIGERU Okamoto 名古屋工業大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), 准教授 (50262944)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: ブロック共重合体 / 選択溶媒 / SANS / ミクロ相分離構造 / SAXS

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Gravity effect was measured by the SANS contrast variation method on a block copolymer, water and THF solution in a 20cm long cell to observe a structural change along the gravity force. Surprisingly, the result showed the structural period at lower position in the cell is larger. This may be caused by the collective sedimentation of the microdomains. The spatial distribution of the constituent molecules in the phase-separated solutions were measured by the same technique. THF and water were mainly distributed into a PMMA phase, while toluene was mainly distributed into a PS phase and methanol was separately distributed into a PMMA phase.
Solutions of large-molecular-weight polystyrene-block-polyisoprene prepared in a neutral solvent DOP and immiscible selective solvents DMP and C14 displayed reflectance spectra shifting across the whole of the visible light region. This technique is a powerful approach to achieving structures with photonic properties.

Free Research Field

高分子構造・物性、ソフトマテリアル