Influence of conformational asymmetry on the phase behavior of ternary homopolymer/block copolymer blends around the bicontinuous microemulsion channel

The Journal of Physical Chemistry. B
Ning ZhouFrank S Bates

Abstract

We have developed a new ternary polymeric system, poly(ethylene-alt-propylene) (PEP)/poly(butylene oxide) (PBO)/PEP-PBO, to study the complex phase behavior near the bicontinuous microemulsion phase channel. The molecular weights of the PEP and PBO homopolymers are 2600 and 3050 g/mol, respectively, and the copolymer is 23.4 kg/mol with volume fraction composition fPBO=0.49. A combination of small-angle neutron scattering, small-angle X-ray scattering, rheology, optical microscopy, and visual oil bath measurements was employed to map out the phase diagrams at five fixed homopolymer PBO/PEP ratios, ranging from 40/60 to 60/40 by volume, with copolymer concentrations ranging from 0 to 100%. It was found that the bicontinuous microemulsion channel is consistently cut off at low temperature by a hexagonal phase. We attribute this phenomenon to the effect of the conformational asymmetry between the PEP and PBO species, whereby the more flexible PBO component induces a spontaneous curvature toward the PBO domains. These findings complement previous descriptions of the isopleth phase diagrams for A/B/A-B systems and identify a new design variable for preparing bicontinuous phases.

References

Oct 1, 1994·Physical Review. E, Statistical Physics, Plasmas, Fluids, and Related Interdisciplinary Topics·L Golubovic
Oct 1, 1994·Physical Review. E, Statistical Physics, Plasmas, Fluids, and Related Interdisciplinary Topics·D C Morse
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Nov 22, 2002·Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics·Franklin E CaputoTimothy P Lodge
Jul 30, 2004·The Journal of Chemical Physics·Dominik Düchs, Friederike Schmid

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Citations

Aug 13, 2009·The Journal of Physical Chemistry. B·Christopher J EllisonFrank S Bates
Jun 21, 2007·Biomacromolecules·Mahmoud ElsabahyJean-Christophe Leroux
Oct 13, 2006·Nano Letters·Ning ZhouTimothy P Lodge

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