1 research outputs found
High-Density Packing of Spherical Microdomains from A(AB<sub>3</sub>)<sub>3</sub> Dendron-like Miktoarm Star Copolymer
An
A(AB3)3 dendron-like miktoarm
star copolymer
consisting of polystyrene (PS, A) and poly(2-vinylpyridine) (P2VP,
B) was synthesized using a series of anionic polymerization, atom-transfer
radical polymerization (ATRP), and click reaction. The morphology
of A(AB3)3 changed greatly depending on the
volume fraction of A and the chain asymmetry. Interestingly, a body-centered
cubic spherical phase was found even at fA = 0.51 because the chain architecture of A(AB3)3 stabilizes the large interfacial curvature toward A domains. On
the other hand, when the length difference between the end and middle
A blocks decreased, a hexagonally packed cylindrical phase was formed
at fA = 0.50. This is attributed to the
fact that the middle A chains are arranged in a more relaxed way,
resulting in a milder interfacial curvature toward A domains. The
experimental observations are well-consistent with the predictions
based on self-consistent-field theory