Freeze-fracture TEM imaging of robust order in swollen phases of amphiphilic diblock copolymers
We report on the structures exhibited by two different diblock poly(styrene)-b-poly(acrylic acid) (PS-b-PAA) copolymers in water, a selective solvent. Using a combination of X-ray scattering and freeze fracture-transmission electron microscopy (FF-TEM), we show that these structures can be widely sw...
| Publié dans: | Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids. - 1985. - 27(2011), 5 vom: 01. März, Seite 1990-5 |
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| Auteur principal: | |
| Autres auteurs: | , , , , |
| Format: | Article en ligne |
| Langue: | English |
| Publié: |
2011
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| Accès à la collection: | Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids |
| Sujets: | Journal Article |
| Résumé: | We report on the structures exhibited by two different diblock poly(styrene)-b-poly(acrylic acid) (PS-b-PAA) copolymers in water, a selective solvent. Using a combination of X-ray scattering and freeze fracture-transmission electron microscopy (FF-TEM), we show that these structures can be widely swollen while retaining their initial morphology and a high degree of long-range order. The analysis of the FF-TEM pictures also evidences the presence of water crystallites of regular size and shape within the confined water domains. We relate the growth of these crystallites to the high local ionic strength of the water swelling the PAA brushes. Moreover, the confinement of the crystallites growth shows that the swollen phases have a very robust structure, potentially useful for confining colloidal particles |
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| Description: | Date Completed 07.06.2011 Date Revised 22.02.2011 published: Print-Electronic Citation Status PubMed-not-MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1520-5827 |
| DOI: | 10.1021/la104290z |