Asymmetric Solvent‐Annealed Triblock Terpolymer Thick Films Topped by a Hexagonal Perforated Lamellar Nanostructure. Issue 2 (15th November 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Aissou, Karim; Bouzit, Hana; Krusch, Felix; Méricq, Jean Pierre; Cot, Didier; Masquelez, Nathalie; Roualdes, Stéphanie; Quémener, Damien
• Is Part Of: Macromolecular rapid communications. Volume 43:Issue 2(2022)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2021-11-15
• Subjects: asymmetric thick films -- block copolymers -- phase inversion processes -- self‐assembly -- solvent vapor annealing; Macromolecules -- Periodicals; Polymers -- Periodicals; Chemistry -- Periodicals; 547.705
• DOI: 10.1002/marc.202100585
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1022-1336

Abstract

Abstract: Asymmetric and nanostructured polystyrene‐ block ‐poly(2‐vinyl pyridine)‐ block ‐poly(ethylene oxide) (PS‐ b ‐P2VP‐ b ‐PEO or SVEO, S:V:EO ≈ 56:34:10, 79.5 kg mol –1 ) thick films blended with 20 wt% of a short PS homopolymer (hPS, 10.5 kg mol –1 ) are achieved by combining the non‐solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) process with a solvent vapor annealing (SVA) treatment. Here, the NIPS step allows for the formation of a highly‐permeable sponge‐like substructure topped by a dense thin layer exhibiting poorly‐ordered nanopores while the subsequent SVA treatment enables to reconstruct the material top surface into a porous monolayer of well‐ordered hexagonal perforated lamellae (HPL). This optimized film architecture generated by NIPS‐SVA shows a water permeability of 860 L h –1 m –2 bar –1, which is roughly two times higher than the flux measured through NIPS made PS‐ b ‐P2VP‐ b ‐PEO/hPS materials having poorly‐ordered nanopores. The post‐SVA treatment is also revealed as a powerful tool to tailor the thickness of the nanostructure formed within the blended material because monoliths entirely composed of a HPL phase are produced by increasing the time of exposure to a chloroform stream. The water flux of such PS‐ b ‐P2VP‐ b ‐PEO/hPS monoliths is found to be an order of magnitude lower than that of their asymmetric film homologues. Abstract : Asymmetric and nanostructured polystyrene‐ block ‐poly(2‐vinyl pyridine)‐ block ‐poly(ethylene oxide) (PS‐ b ‐P2VP‐ b ‐PEO) films blended with PS homopolymer (hPS) are achieved by combining the non‐solvent induced phase separation process with a solvent vapor annealing treatment. These PS‐ b ‐P2VP‐ b ‐PEO/hPS materials, consisting of a porous monolayer of well‐ordered hexagonal perforated lamellae and a sponge‐like substructure, show a water permeability of 860 L h −1 m −2 bar −1 .