journal article·2024-12Open access

Drop‐Cast Hybrid Poly(styrene)‐b‐Poly(ethylene oxide) Metal Salt Films: Solvent Evaporation and Crystallinity‐Dependent Evolution of Film Morphology

Yanan Li, Nian Li, Suo Tu, Yamit Alon, Zerui Li, Marie Betker, Danzhong Sun, Alisher Kurmanbay, Wei Chen, Suzhe Liang, Shaowei Shi, Stephan V. Roth, Peter Müller‐Buschbaum

Small· Volume 20· Issue 51

Abstract

Abstract Morphology templates of solution–based diblock copolymer (DBC) films with loading metal salts are widely applied in photocatalysts, photovoltaics, and sensors due to their adjustable characteristics based on surface (de–)wetting and microphase separation. The present work investigates the morphologies of drop–cast hybrid films based on poly(styrene)–b–poly(ethylene oxide) (PS–b–PEO) and the metal salts titanium isopropoxide (TTIP) and zinc acetate dehydrate (ZAD) in comparison to the pure DBC. By utilizing scanning electron microscopy, grazing–incidence small– and wide–angle X‐ray scattering, and differential scanning calorimetry, we find that the resulting film morphologies depend not only on the presence of metal salts but also on solvent evaporation and crystalline formation. At 20 °C, additional TTIP and ZAD in the polymer template cause the morphology to change from packed globular structures to separated wormlike structures attributed to the changed polymer environment. Furthermore, additional tetrahydrofuran causes irregular structures at the precursor film part and the overlapped wormlike structures to transition into close–packed globular structures at the cap film parts of the pure DBC. In contrast, at 50 °C, the globular structures transit to fingerprint patterns due to the thermal behavior of the crystallizable PEO blocks, and the metal salt additives suppress crystalline structure formation in the PEO domains.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Block Copolymer Self-Assembly · Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics · Advanced Polymer Synthesis and Characterization

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Technical University of Munich TUM School of Natural Sciences Department of Physics Chair for Functional Materials James‐Franck‐Str. 1 85748 Garching Germany

School of Physics University of Electronic Science and Technology of China Chengdu 610106 P. R. China

Fibre and Polymer Technology KTH Royal Institute of Technology Teknikringen 56–58 Stockholm 11428 Sweden

Deutsches Elektronen‐Synchrotron DESY Notkestrasse 85 22607 Hamburg Germany

State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering Beijing University of Chemical Technology Beijing 100029 P. R. China

Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Ultraintense Laser and Advanced Material Technology Center for Intense Laser Application Technology and College of Engineering Physics Shenzhen Technology University Shenzhen 518118 P. R. China

Eastern Institute for Advanced Study Eastern Institute of Technology Ningbo Zhejiang 315201 P. R. China

University of Science and Technology of China Hefei Anhui 230026 P. R. China

Funding

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft · China Scholarship Council · National Natural Science Foundation of China · Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Program · Guangdong Provincial Applied Science and Technology Research and Development Program · Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Bildung und Kultus, Wissenschaft und Kunst

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