The Formation of Supermolecular Polycaprolactone (PCL) Spherulites in Polystyrene-Polybutadiene-PCL (PS-b-PB-b-PCL) Semicrystalline Block Copolymer

Published

November 1, 1998

Author(s)

G Kim, C L. Jackson, V Balsamo, M Libera, R Stadler, Charles C. Han

Abstract

The morphological behavior of (PS)0.35(PB)0.15(PCL)0.5 semicrystalline block copolymers as a function of annealing conditions are discussed. For this study, the bulk and thick films of (PS)0.35(PB)0.15(PCL)0.5 were cast from toluene solution and the morphologies were examined using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and optical microscopy (OM). The morphology ofeither as-cast or annealed bulk (~1 mm) specimens is a lamellar-cylindrical morphology having PB cylinders at the interphase boundaries. The block copolymer thick film (~ 5 mm to 10 mm) from fast solvent evaporation also shows a lamellar-cylindrical microphase-separated morphology without the formation of visible PCL spherulites using OM. After the formation of the well-defined PCL spherulites by annealing, the micromorphology is no longer lamellar-cylindrical but instead the PCL lamellar crystals dominate the system.

Proceedings Title

Proceedings of ANTEC 99

Volume

2

Conference Dates

May 2-6, 1999

Conference Title

ANTEC Conference Proceedings

Pub Type

Conferences

Keywords

block polymer, lamellar crystal, lamellar-cylindrical morphology, microphase separation, optical microscopy, polybutadiene polycaprolactone

Citation

Kim, G. , Jackson, C. , Balsamo, V. , Libera, M. , Stadler, R. and Han, C. (1998), The Formation of Supermolecular Polycaprolactone (PCL) Spherulites in Polystyrene-Polybutadiene-PCL (PS-b-PB-b-PCL) Semicrystalline Block Copolymer, Proceedings of ANTEC 99 (Accessed April 26, 2024)