Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics, Vol.46, No.16, 1660-1668, 2008
Structural characterization of radiation-grafted block copolymer films, using SANS technique
We report small-angle neutron scattering studies of grafted copolymer films of perfluorinated poly(ethylene propylene), FEP, base polymer and polystyrene, PS, grafted blocks. The films show highly anisotropic scattering patterns, revealing nematic-like ordering of the crystalline domain structure as a consequence of the processing conditions. Upon grafting, the styrene swells the amorphous domains in the copolymer formation. For styrene content beyond roughly 15%, the amorphous regimes increase on the cost of crystalline domains. To stabilize the rather well-defined domain structure already given by the original FEP base material, the samples need to be cross-linked. Without cross-linking, the nanometer length scale domains vanish, and some large scale structure takes over, likely driven by the immiscibility between FEP and PS. (C) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.