Abstract
The surface morphologies of confined, dewetted polymer films were investigated with atomic force microscopy (AFM) and grazing-incidence small-angle neutron scattering (GISANS). On examining homopolymer films of deuterated polystyrene (dPS) both techniques reveal the resulting droplet structure which is described by one most prominent in-plane length. Due to the contrast resulting from deuteration in the case of polymer blend films of dPS and poly(p-methyl styrene) GISANS is able to probe the in-plane composition of the dewetting structure. An additional phase separation process at different length scales gives rise to a sub- and superstructure which is not detectable by AFM. In addition, the influence of the wavelength used in the GISANS experiments on the structures observed is discussed.
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Received: 13 April 1999 Accepted in revised form: 29 June 1999
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Müller-Buschbaum, P., Gutmann, J., Cubitt, R. et al. Probing the in-plane composition of thin polymer films with grazing-incidence small-angle neutron scattering and atomic force microscopy. Colloid Polym Sci 277, 1193–1199 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/s003960050509
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s003960050509