Breath figure templated self-assembly of porous diblock copolymer films

Aaron E. Saunders, Jasper L. Dickson, Parag S. Shah, Min Young Lee, Kwon Taek Lim, Keith P. Johnston , and Brian A. Korgel
Phys. Rev. E 73, 031608 – Published 28 March 2006

Abstract

Porous polyethylene oxide–b–polyfluorooctylmethacrylate (PEObPFOMA) diblock copolymer films were drop cast onto substrates from Freon (1,1,2-trichlorotrifluoroethane) in a humid atmosphere. The pores in the films exhibit long range hexagonal order in some cases, depending on the PFOMA-to-PEO molecular weight ratio. Films with the best ordered pores were formed with PFOMA-to-PEO ratios of 70kDa:2kDa. The pores in the polymer films derive from water droplets that condense as Freon evaporates. The polymer stabilizes the water droplets, or “breath figures,” which act as an immiscible template that molds the porous film. Increased polymer hydrophobicity reduces the water wettability of the air/Freon interface, which in turn decreases water droplet nucleation, thus influencing the final pore size and spatial order in the polymer films. We describe how water droplet nucleation influences the final pore size and packing order in the polymer films.

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  • Received 19 October 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.73.031608

©2006 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Aaron E. Saunders1, Jasper L. Dickson1, Parag S. Shah1, Min Young Lee2, Kwon Taek Lim2, Keith P. Johnston 1,*, and Brian A. Korgel1,†

  • 1Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas Materials Institute, Center for Nano- and Molecular Science and Technology, University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
  • 2Division of Image and Information Engineering, Pukyong National University, Pusan 608-739, Korea

  • *Corresponding author. Electronic address: johnston@che.utexas.edu
  • Corresponding author. Electronic address: korgel@mail.che.utexas.edu

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Issue

Vol. 73, Iss. 3 — March 2006

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