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Phase Separation Studies of Confined Thin Film Polymer Blends

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

Q. Pan  and
R. J. Composto
Q. Pan
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Philadelphia, PA 19104
R. J. Composto
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Philadelphia, PA 19104
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Abstract

Using video-optical microscopy and image analysis software, the morphological development of phase separation of polystyrene (PS) and poly(vinyl methyl ether) (PVME) blends is monitored for film thickness ranging from 200 to 700nm's. In the current studies, films are confined between glass slides. For blends having a PS volume fraction of 0.30 (the critical composition), the area fraction of the PS-rich minority phase, A, decreases more rapidly as film thickness decreases. At long times, the final A achieves a constant value which is less than the bulk value. The correlation length of concentration fluctuations increases more rapidly than the bulk scaling prediction, which suggests that wetting plays a significant role in the phase separation kinetics of thin films. Because of confinement, the shape of the PS-rich phase is anisotropic, flattened along the film direction. The confinement restricts the phase growth perpendicular to the film plane, and thus hinders the development of phase separation at very late stages.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 366: Symposium N – Dynamics in Small Confining Systems , 1994 , 27
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1995

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