Self-Seeding Procedure for Obtaining Stacked Block Copolymer Lamellar Crystals in Solution

Bessif, Brahim; Pfohl, Thomas; Reiter, Günter

doi:10.3390/polym13111676

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Self-Seeding Procedure for Obtaining Stacked Block Copolymer Lamellar Crystals in Solution

Brahim Bessif

¹,

Thomas Pfohl

¹ and

Günter Reiter

^1,2,*

Physikalisches Institut, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, 79104 Freiburg, Germany

Freiburg Materials Research Center (FMF), Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, 79104 Freiburg, Germany

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Academic Editor: Holger Schmalz

Polymers 2021, 13(11), 1676; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13111676

Received: 4 May 2021 / Revised: 17 May 2021 / Accepted: 18 May 2021 / Published: 21 May 2021

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Block Copolymers with Crystallizable Blocks: Synthesis, Self-Assembly and Applications)

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Abstract

We examined the formation of self-seeded platelet-like crystals from polystyrene-block-polyethylene oxide (PS-b-PEO) diblock copolymers in toluene as a function of polymer concentration (

c

), crystallization temperature (

T_{C}

), and self-seeding temperature (

T_{SS}

). We showed that the number (

N

) of platelet-like crystals and their mean lateral size (

L

) can be controlled through a self-seeding procedure. As (homogeneous) nucleation was circumvented by the self-seeding procedure,

N

did not depend on

T_{C}

N

increased linearly with

c

and decayed exponentially with

T_{SS}

but was not affected significantly by the time the sample was kept at

T_{SS}

. The solubility limit of PS-b-PEO in toluene (

c

*), which was derived from the linear extrapolation of

N (c)

\to

0 and from the total deposited mass of the platelets per area

(M_{C} (c) \to 0

), depended on

T_{C}

. We have also demonstrated that at low

N

, stacks consisting of a (large) number (

η

) of uniquely oriented lamellae can be achieved. At a given

T_{C}

L

was controlled by

N

and

η

as well as by

∆ c = c - c^{*}

. Thus, besides being able to predict size and number of platelet-like crystals, the self-seeding procedure also allowed control of the number of stacked lamellae in these crystals. View Full-Text

Keywords: crystal morphologies; polymer crystallization; nucleation mechanism; scaling relations

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Bessif, B.; Pfohl, T.; Reiter, G. Self-Seeding Procedure for Obtaining Stacked Block Copolymer Lamellar Crystals in Solution. Polymers 2021, 13, 1676. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13111676

AMA Style

Bessif B, Pfohl T, Reiter G. Self-Seeding Procedure for Obtaining Stacked Block Copolymer Lamellar Crystals in Solution. Polymers. 2021; 13(11):1676. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13111676

Chicago/Turabian Style

Bessif, Brahim, Thomas Pfohl, and Günter Reiter. 2021. "Self-Seeding Procedure for Obtaining Stacked Block Copolymer Lamellar Crystals in Solution" Polymers 13, no. 11: 1676. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13111676

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