Polystyrene-polyethylene oxide (PS-PEO) is an amphiphilic diblock copolymer whose immiscible components lead to the formation of nanostructures.  The resulting structures can be used as templates to incorporate quantum dots or for thin film deposition of conductive metals for electronics. To create these nanostructures, the PS-PEO is dissolved in a solvent and spread along the air/water interface on a Langmuir Trough.  The resulting structures are transferred as a Langmuir-Blodgett film and imaged using an atomic force microscope.  The spreading solvent's effect on PS-PEO nanostructures was investigated using a series with a constant length of PEO and  variable PS with  chloroform (v.p. 160mmHg), 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane (v.p. 8mmHg), and toluene (v.p. 22mmHg) as solvents. Traditionally chloroform is used though its rapid evaporation leaves PS-PEO kinetically trapped, frozen into certain structures. Our findings, however, show that using less volatile solvents dramatically affect the nanostructures, giving us greater control over the polymer system.

Nanostructure patterning: Effects of polymer composition and spreading solvent

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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