Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T12:19:28.440Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Tailoring the Structure of Polymer Brushes Through Copolymer Architecture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

Dilip Gersappe
Affiliation:
Materials Science and Engineering Department, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA. 15261.
Michael Fasolka
Affiliation:
Materials Science and Engineering Department, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA. 15261.
Rafel Israels
Affiliation:
Materials Science and Engineering Department, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA. 15261.
Anna C. Balazs
Affiliation:
Materials Science and Engineering Department, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA. 15261.
Get access

Abstract

Polymers tethered by one end onto a solid surface are referred to as polymer “brushes”. We consider brushes composed of copolymers that contain both A and B monomers. The A monomers are compatible with the surrounding solvent, while the B sites are solventincompatible. The solvent incompatibility causes the B sites to associate into domains or clusters within the layer. We use Monte Carlo computer simulations and self-consistent field calculations to determine the effect of copolymer architecture on the structure of the polymer brush. In particular, we alter the copolymer sequence distribution (the arrangement of the A and B monomers along the length of the chain) and determine how both the vertical and lateral morphology of the brush are effected by these variations. The results provide guidelines for controlling the size and shape of the B domains, and consequently, the morphology of the tethered layer.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1. Milner, S. T., Science 251, 905 (1991).Google Scholar
2. Gersappe, D., Fasolka, M., Balazs, A. C. and Jacobson, S. H., J. Chem. Phys 100, 1970 (1994).Google Scholar
3. Li, W. and Balazs, A.C., Molecular Simulations 13, 257 (1994).Google Scholar
4. Gersappe, D., Fasolka, M., Israels, R. and Balazs, A. C., submitted, Macromolecules.Google Scholar
5. Carmesin, I. and Kremer, K., Macromolecules 21, 2819 (1988).Google Scholar
6. Deutsch, H.P. and Binder, K., J. Chem. Phys. 94, 2294 (1991).Google Scholar
7. Metropolis, N., Rosenbluth, A.W., Rosenbluth, M.N., Teller, A.H., and Teller, E., J. Chem. Phys. 21, 1087 (1953).Google Scholar
8. Fleer, G., Stuart, M. A. Cohen, Scheutjens, J. M. H. M., Cosgrove, T. and Vincent, B., Polymers at Interfaces, (Chapman and Hall, London, 1993).Google Scholar
9. Lent, B. van and Scheutjens, J. M. H. M., J. Phys. Chem. 94, 5033 (1990)Google Scholar
10. Balazs, A. C., Sanchez, I. C., Epstein, I. R., Karasz, F.E. and MacKnight, W.J., Macromolecules 18, 2188 (1985); C. Yeung, A. C. Balazs and D. Jasnow, Macromolecules 25, 1357 (1992).Google Scholar
11. Lai, P. and Binder, K., J. Chem. Phys. 95, 9288 (1991).Google Scholar
12. Nesarikar, A. R., Cruz, M. Olvera de la and Crist, B., J. Chem. Phys. 98, 7385 (1993).Google Scholar
13. Lai, P. Y., J. Chem. Phys 100, 3351 (1994).Google Scholar
14. Marko, J. F. and Witten, T. A., Macromolecules 25, 296 (1992); G. Brown, A. Chakrabarti and J. F. Marko, Europhys. Lett. 25, 239 (1994).Google Scholar
15. Lai, P. and Binder, K., J. Chem. Phys. 97, 586 (1992).Google Scholar
16. Yeung, C., Balazs, A.C. and Jasnow, D., Macromolecules 26, 1914 (1993).Google Scholar
17. Huang, K. and Balazs, A.C., Macromolecules 26, 4736 (1993).Google Scholar
18. Grest, G. and Murat, M., Macromolecules 26, 3108 (1993).Google Scholar
19. Israels, R. and Balazs, A.C., preliminary results from self-consistent field calculations on end grafted chains with stickers.Google Scholar