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Nascent lateral habits of solution crystallization of poly(ethylene glycol)-block-polystyrene diblock copolymers

Journal of Polymer Research volume 21, Article number: 380 (2014) Cite this article

Abstract

Some special habits of dilute solution-grown single crystals were introduced by means of atomic force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) equipped with electron diffraction (ED). Well-defined block copolymers of poly(ethylene glycol)-block-polystyrene (PEG-b-PS) having predetermined molecular weight and narrow molecular weight distribution (1.06–1.08) were synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The single crystals of PEG-b-PS copolymers were grown in a mixed solvent comprised of chlorobenzene/octane and separately in amyl acetate, both using a self-seeding technique. We were capable to develop various growth fronts that resulted from different growth rates through infinitesimal temperature fluctuations. Elevated crystallization temperatures and a higher ratio of molecular weight of PS to that of PEG intensified the curvatures. The corresponding overall, crystalline, and amorphous thickness of a given single crystal, either in square and truncated shapes or with concave and convex lateral sides, had high consistency with each other.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to Morteza Nasiri for his kind assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Polymeric Materials, Sahand University of Technology, Tabriz, Iran

    S. Agbolaghi, F. Abbasi & K. Jalili

  2. Faculty of Polymer Engineering, Sahand University of Technology, Tabriz, Iran

    S. Agbolaghi, F. Abbasi & K. Jalili

Authors
  1. S. Agbolaghi
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  2. F. Abbasi
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  3. K. Jalili
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Correspondence to F. Abbasi.

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Agbolaghi, S., Abbasi, F. & Jalili, K. Nascent lateral habits of solution crystallization of poly(ethylene glycol)-block-polystyrene diblock copolymers. J Polym Res 21, 380 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-014-0380-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-014-0380-0

Keywords

  • Single crystal
  • Block copolymer
  • Poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(styrene)
  • ATRP
  • Self-seeding