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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik
CPP 48: The Collapsed State of Polymers: From Physical Concepts to Applications and Biological Systems (joint session with BP)
CPP 48.4: Talk
Thursday, April 3, 2014, 15:45–16:00, ZEU 250
Conformation and Structural Changes of Diblock Copolymers with Octopus-Like Micelle Formation under the Influence of Water Vapor — •Kirsten Dammertz1, Masoud Amirkhani1, Christoph Jentzsch2, Jens-Uwe Sommer2,3, and Othmar Marti1 — 1Institute of Experimental Physics, Ulm Univeristy — 2Leibniz-Institute of Polymer Research Dresden — 3Institute of Theoretical Physics, TU-Dresden
External stimuli like vapors, pressure or electric fields can be used to manipulate the polymer configurations of diblock-copolymers. Due to the conformational flexibility of such polymers, AB-diblock copolymers constitute a valuable tool to develop functional nanomaterials and devices.
We study the conformation and structural response of PS-b-PMMA, PS and PMMA adsorbed on mica under water vapor, respectively. At polymer concentrations below the minimum needed for the development of thin films, octopus-like surface micelles are formed. By applying water vapor to a system containing polar PMMA chains, additional mobility can be provided to the polymers. In contrast, PS is less affected since it does not contain a permanent dipole moment. Furthermore, collapse and decollapse effects were observed.
In addition to AFM measurements, we performed BFM Monte Carlo simulations to analyze the formation process of the micellular structures as well as their response to water vapor.