Dresden 2014 – scientific programme

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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik

CPP 41: Nanoparticles and Composite Materials

CPP 41.8: Talk

Thursday, April 3, 2014, 11:30–11:45, ZEU 222

Morphological and swelling behavior of Block Copolymer/Nanoparticles Composites — •Christian Lewin, Larisa Tsarkova, and Alexander Böker — DWI at the RWTH Aachen, Forckenbeckstraße 50, 52074 Aachen, Germany

Among polymer-inorganic composites, block copolymers loaded with metal particles attract particular research interest due to their technological potential in nanoelectronics, nanolithography and sensing applications. We study the influence of selectively deposited gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) on the micro-phase separation behavior and on macroscopic swelling of block copolymer films. We report solvent vapor annealing of Polystyrene-block-poly(2-vinylpyridine)/gold nanoparticles composites with varying concentration of loaded Au-NPs that have been subjected to solvent vapor annealing under controlled temperature and partial vapor pressure of the solvent vapor. Measurements of the swollen film thickness with in-situ ellipsometry revealed that the NPs concentration has a clear effect on the solvent up-take, as well as on the phase behavior of composite films. In particular we observed an unusual type of surface patterning which was attributed to fine tuning of interfacial interactions by NPs. Performing swelling experiments using controlled annealing set up is essentially important for generating reproducible and therefore comparable data on the behavior of composite films in confined geometry and hence for providing novel insights into the understanding of complex nanoheterogeneous systems.