Effect of selective solvent on the aggregate behavior of the mixed Langmuir monolayers of PS-b-PEO and PS-b-PMMA

Abstract

A selective solvent was used to study the aggregate behavior of mixed Langmuir monolayers of polystyrene-b-poly(ethylene oxide) (PS-b-PEO) and polystyrene-b-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PS-b-PMMA). A peculiar hysteresis phenomenon is reported for the first time, in which the expansion curves cross their corresponding compression curves, and the final surface pressures after the expansion processes are significantly higher than, instead of close to, their initial compression values. The mixed Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) films exhibit more mixed circular micelles and fewer mixed rod-like aggregates with the increase of the PS-b-PEO content, which is quite different from those that only exhibit mixed circular micelles by using a nonselective solvent. So far we have carried out the progressive morphology evolution and the aggregate density control in the mixed LB films by using the selective spreading solvent and adjusting the blend composition and transfer pressure, which is an interesting way to control and design morphology into an ultrathin film for some applications such as nanopatterns and nanotemplates.