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Morphological regimes of poly(ε-caprolactone)/octaisobutyl polyhedral oligosilsesquioxane composite films in relation to film composition and thickness

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Abstract

The morphological evolution of poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL)/octaisobutyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (IBUPOSS) films was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and polarized optical microscopy (POM). The morphologies of the blend films with PCL/IBUPOSS mass ratios of 95:5 to 50:50 were discussed according to decomposition mechanism in relation to film composition and thickness. In addition to the morphological regime for films with lower IBUPOSS loadings, in which the growth of PCL spherulites was nearly independent on the presence of fine IBUPOSS aggregates, two new morphological regimes were observed for the films with higher IBUPOSS loadings: (1) thicker blend films exhibited a rich dynamics, giving rise to a trilayer structure and (2) the decomposition of thinner films was induced by the kinetically controlled growth of IBUPOSS aggregates. By varying the thickness and the composition of the blend films, the current study provides important new insight into the rich phase behavior of nanoparticle-filled polymer films.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Philip Oshel for SEM training and the CMU start-up grant and the Early Career Investigator Award (613771) granted to B. Li for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Science of Advanced Materials Doctoral Program, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, 48859, USA

    Katie Greenman, Adam Bauer, Daniel Kool, Jianzhao Liu & Bingbing Li

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  1. Katie Greenman
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  2. Adam Bauer
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  3. Daniel Kool
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  4. Jianzhao Liu
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  5. Bingbing Li
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Correspondence to Bingbing Li.

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Greenman, K., Bauer, A., Kool, D. et al. Morphological regimes of poly(ε-caprolactone)/octaisobutyl polyhedral oligosilsesquioxane composite films in relation to film composition and thickness. Colloid Polym Sci 292, 2227–2240 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-014-3253-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-014-3253-5

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