Dresden 2014 – scientific programme

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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 Sommer^2,3, 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.