The morphology of A2B mikotoarm polymer in thin film

The morphologies of A2B mikto-arm polymer consisted of poly(2-vinyl pyridine) and polystyrene ((P2VP)2PS) in thin film were examined. Solvent vapor annealing produces films with lamellae perpendicular to the substrate within a very short time. The change in the morphology for different periods of time, corresponding to different swelling ratios was observed by grazing incidence small angle x-ray scattering and scanning force microscopy. This morphology showed the smaller height difference between PS and P2VP microdomains, when compared to the corresponding diblock copolymer. We also observed the long-range ordering formed on the saw-tooth pattern. Thermal annealing, on the other hand, resulted in the lamellae being oriented parallel to the substrate, where unusual behavior was depending on the film thickness and surface energy of substrate.