2 research outputs found
Self-Assembly of Hierarchical Structures Using Cyclotriphosphazene-Containing Poly(substituted methylene) Block Copolymers
The
cyclotriphosphazene-substituted diazoacetate homopolymer (polyPNDA′)
(PNDA′ = hexaphenoxy-substituted phosphazene-containing methylene)
and a novel poly(substituted methylene) block copolymer, polyPNDA′-<i>block</i>-poly(hexyloxycarbonylmethylene) (polyPNDA’-<i>b</i>-polyHDA′), were synthesized, and the self-assembly
behavior of these polymers was studied in detail. A hexagonally packed
aggregated structure was observed in the self-assembled structure
of polyPNDA′, whereas a lamellar structure was observed in
the microphase-separated nanoassembly of polyPNDA′-<i>b</i>-polyHDA′. These results indicate that a hierarchical
structure composed of highly regular polyPNDA′ nanoaggregates
and the long-range microphase-separated polyPNDA′ and polyHDA′
domains had formed
Perpendicular Orientation Control without Interfacial Treatment of RAFT-Synthesized High‑χ Block Copolymer Thin Films with Sub-10 nm Features Prepared via Thermal Annealing
In this study, a
series of perpendicular lamellae-forming poly(polyhedral oligomeric
silsesquioxane methacrylate-<i>block</i>-2,2,2-trifluoroethyl
methacrylate)s (PMAPOSS-<i>b</i>-PTFEMAs) was developed
based on the bottom-up concept of creating a simple yet effective
material by tailoring the chemical properties and molecular composition
of the material. The use of silicon (Si)-containing hybrid high-χ
block copolymers (BCPs) provides easy access to sub-10 nm feature
sizes. However, as the surface free energies (SFEs) of Si-containing
polymers are typically vastly lower than organic polymers, this tends
to result in the selective segregation of the inorganic block onto
the air interface and increased difficulty in controlling the BCP
orientation in thin films. Therefore, by balancing the SFEs between
the organic and inorganic blocks through the use of poly(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl
methacrylate) (PTFEMA) on the organic block, a polymer with an SFE
similar to Si-containing polymers, orientation control of the BCP
domains in thin films becomes much simpler. Herein, perpendicularly
oriented BCP thin films with a χ<sub>eff</sub> value of 0.45
were fabricated using simple spin-coating and thermal annealing processes
under ambient conditions. The thin films displayed a minimum domain
size of <i>L</i><sub>0</sub> = 11 nm, as observed via atomic
force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission
electron microscopy (TEM). Furthermore, directed self-assembly (DSA)
of the BCP on a topographically prepatterned substrate using the grapho-epitaxy
method was used to successfully obtain perpendicularly oriented lamellae
with a half pitch size of ca. 8 nm