While the self-assembly of neutral diblock copolymers has been well-studied for many years, the literature is mostly devoid of experimental reports on the self-assembly of block copolyelectrolytes (BCPEs). Nanostructured BCPEs have the potential to impact a wide array of applications including water purification, Li-ion batteries, fuel cells, and CO<sub>2</sub> capture as single-ion conducting membranes because of their modular transport properties and high mechanical integrity. Therefore, developing structure-property relationships that link material chemistry and self-assembled morphologies to macroscopic material properties is of extreme importance to the field. This presentation will focus on the self-assembly of cyclopropenium-ion diblock copolyelectrolytes through solvent vapor annealing. Utilizing a facile post-polymerization functionalization synthetic strategy it is possible to precisely control block lengths and characterize chain distributions while maintaining complete electrolyte functionality. We demonstrate the impact of the BCPE chain composition and the total degree of polymerization on the observed thin-film morphology and how manipulating these parameters can be used to precisely tune the domain density. In addition, through varying annealing conditions and film thicknesses, we have control over the nanostructured domain orientation. Coupling annealing parameters with BCPE chain architecture enables precise control over the film’s nanostructured morphology. This technology will permit block copolyelectrolytes to be rationally designed for desired applications.

Thin-film self-assembly and morphology mapping of cyclopropenium diblock copolyelectrolytes

254th National Meeting (2017)

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