Understanding the surface chemistry of amphiphilic copolymer thin films in aqueous environments

ORAL

Abstract

Controlling the surface chemistry of polymer coatings which are stable in aqueous environment is a complex problem which depends heavily on the hydrophobicity of the polymer. Poly(styrene)-$b$-(ethyleneoxide-\textit{co}-allylgycidylether)-$b$-poly(styrene) [PS-$b$-(PEO-\textit{co}-AGE)-$b$-PS] triblock copolymers functionalized at the pendant allyl groups with fluorinated moieties are a promising class of polymers for applications in antifouling coatings. These polymers gain their water stability from the PS blocks and their antifouling character from the PEO block. Surface active fluorinated groups are used to direct the surface chemistry of the film during annealing. However, the surface can rearrange or become damaged upon immersion in water. Near edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (NEXAFS) of films after soaking in water shows that the surface composition as characterized by the PS and PEO content in the first 6 nm of the film is directly related to the relative sizes of the PS and the P(EO-\textit{co}-AGE) blocks as well as the fluorine content.

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Authors

  • Hilda Buss

    Univ of California - Berkeley

  • Nathaniel Lynd

    JCAP - Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

  • Ronald Zuckermann

    MF - Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

  • Edward Kramer

    Univ or California - Santa Barbara, University of California, Santa Barbara, Univ of California - Santa Barbara

  • Rachel Segalman

    Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, University of California, Berkeley, Dept of Chemical Engineering, UC Berkeley, Univ of California - Berkeley, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, UC Berkeley, University of California-Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley Lab