Effect of poly(4‑tert-butylstyrene) block length on the microphase structure of poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(4-vinylbenzyl chloride)-b-poly(4‑tert-butylstyrene) triblock terpolymers

• Published in: Chinese chemical letters Vol. 34; no. 6; pp. 107690 - 555
• Main Authors: An, Kun, Gao, Jia, Chen, Yihang, Nie, Jingjing, Li, Yongjin, Xu, Junting, Du, Binyang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.06.2023; State Key Laboratory of Motor Vehicle Biofuel Technology,Department of Polymer Science & Engineering,Zhejiang University,Hangzhou 310027,China%College of Material,Chemistry and Chemical Engineering,Hangzhou Normal University,Hangzhou 310036,China%Department of Chemistry,Zhejiang University,Hangzhou 310027,China
• Subjects: ABC triblock terpolymer; HPL; Phase structure; SAXS; Thermodynamically stable; Thermodynamically stable; HPL; Phase structure; ABC triblock terpolymer; SAXS
• ISSN: 1001-8417; 1878-5964
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cclet.2022.07.033

A series of linear poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(4-vinylbenzyl chloride)-b-poly(4‑tert-butylstyrene) (PEO113-b-PVBC130-b-PtBSx or E113V130Tx) triblock terpolymers with various lengths x (=20, 33, 66, 104, 215) of PtBS block were synthesized via a two-step reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. The E113V130Tx triblock terpolymers were non-crystalline because the PVBC and PtBS blocks strongly hindered the crystallization of PEO block. The effects of PtBS block length x on the phase structures of E113V130Tx triblock terpolymers were investigated by combined techniques of small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It was found that with increasing x from 20 to 215, the phase structure of E113V130Tx triblock terpolymers became more ordered and changed from disordered structure, hexagonally-packed cylinder (HEX), hexagonally perforated layer (HPL), to lamellar (LAM) phase structures. Temperature-variable SAXS measurements showed that the HEX, HPL and LAM phase structures obtained for E113V130T66, E113V130T104 and E113V130T215 by thermal annealing, respectively, were thermodynamically stable in the temperature range of 30–170 °C. [Display omitted]