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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 March 2011
The nanoscale patterns formed by poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) stereocomplexes at the surface of silicon wafers, glass and mica, were investigated by tapping mode atomic force microscopy (TM-AFM). The effects of the solvent nature, PMMA concentration, i/s-ratio (stoechimetry) and surface nature on the morphology of the stereocomplex thin layer at a surface were addressed. The aggregation phenomena are well described by the diffusion limited cluster-cluster aggregation model (DLA) and the fractal exponent D calculated. The i/s-ratio strongly influences the fractal exponent D which is equal to 1.35 for the 1:2 ratio is lower than for the other i:s ratios which are 1.46, 1.61, 1.82 for 1:1, 2:1 and 4:1 ratios, respectively. The low values of the fractal dimension D are indicative of a fast aggregation process and higher values of D correspond to a slow aggregation process.