TY - JOUR
T1 - Three-dimensional visualization of phase transition in polystyrene-block-polydimethylsiloxane thin film
AU - Wen, Tao
AU - Wang, Hsiao Fang
AU - Georgopanos, Prokopios
AU - Avgeropoulos, Apostolos
AU - Ho, Rong Ming
N1 - Funding Information:
TW thanks the financial supports from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21803020 ), the Program for Guangdong Introducing Innovative and Entrepreneurial Teams (No. 2016ZT06C322 ) and the startup support from the South China University of Technology .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2019/3/22
Y1 - 2019/3/22
N2 - Herein, we aim to examine the order-order transition (OOT) of self-assembled block copolymer (BCP) under spatial confinement using double gyroid (DG) structured polystyrene-block-polydimethylsiloxane (PS-PDMS) thin film as an exemplary system for three-dimensional (3D) visualization of phase transitions. An interesting OOT from DG to hexagonally perforated lamellae (HPL) can be found after thermal annealing, and the morphological evolution and corresponding mechanism for the OOT was systematically investigated by 3D transmission electron microscopy (3D TEM). Our results revealed that the phase transition of DG nanostructure in thin film was different from that in bulk, which is attributed into the surficial/interfacial effects and the effect of confinement on BCP self-assembly. This work provides a feasible method to prepare DG-nanostructured thin film and presents a model system for the examination of morphological evolution from metastable to phase with higher thermodynamic stability in the thin-film state through the OOT.
AB - Herein, we aim to examine the order-order transition (OOT) of self-assembled block copolymer (BCP) under spatial confinement using double gyroid (DG) structured polystyrene-block-polydimethylsiloxane (PS-PDMS) thin film as an exemplary system for three-dimensional (3D) visualization of phase transitions. An interesting OOT from DG to hexagonally perforated lamellae (HPL) can be found after thermal annealing, and the morphological evolution and corresponding mechanism for the OOT was systematically investigated by 3D transmission electron microscopy (3D TEM). Our results revealed that the phase transition of DG nanostructure in thin film was different from that in bulk, which is attributed into the surficial/interfacial effects and the effect of confinement on BCP self-assembly. This work provides a feasible method to prepare DG-nanostructured thin film and presents a model system for the examination of morphological evolution from metastable to phase with higher thermodynamic stability in the thin-film state through the OOT.
KW - 3D TEM
KW - Block copolymer
KW - Order-order transition
KW - Phase transition
KW - Self-assembly
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U2 - 10.1016/j.polymer.2019.01.047
DO - 10.1016/j.polymer.2019.01.047
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85062151084
VL - 167
SP - 209
EP - 214
JO - Polymer (United Kingdom)
JF - Polymer (United Kingdom)
SN - 0032-3861
ER -