Dewetting behavior of Langmuir−Blodgett films of polystyrene‐b‐poly(methyl methacrylate) induced by solvent vapor annealing. Issue 8 (18th December 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wu, Tao; Wen, Gangyao; Huang, Changchun
• Is Part Of: Journal of polymer science. Volume 54:Issue 8(2016)
• Page Start: 825
• Page End: 830
• Publication Date: 2015-12-18
• Subjects: AFM -- block copolymer -- dewetting -- LB film -- solvent vapor annealing; 547
• DOI: 10.1002/polb.23979
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0887-6266

Abstract

ABSTRACT: In order to explore the degree of contact between hydrophilic blocks and the substrate, the dewetting behavior of Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) films of polystyrene‐ block ‐poly(methyl methacrylate) (PS‐ b ‐PMMA) induced by PMMA‐selective acetone vapor were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) for the first time. With the annealing of acetone vapor, the LB films of PS‐ b ‐PMMA undergo the swelling and coalescing of aggregates, the formation of bicontinuous patterns, the formation of droplets, and the periodic increase and decrease of droplets. The emergence of the bicontinuous patterns indicates that the dewetting occurs via the spinodal dewetting mechanism. The periodic droplet evolution is a novel phenomenon observed for the first time and quite different from the single droplet evolution of spin‐coated films, which is probably due to the degree of contact between PMMA blocks and the substrate in the LB films being larger than that in the latter. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys.2016, 54, 825–830 Abstract : The dewetting behavior of Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) films induced by solvent vapor annealing is investigated by atomic force microscopy for the first time. With the annealing of acetone vapor, the LB films undergo the swelling and coalescing of aggregates, the formation of bicontinuous patterns, the formation of droplets, and the periodic evolution of droplets. The last stage is a novel phenomenon observed for the first time and quite different from the single droplet evolution of spin‐coated films.