Controlling additive dispersion and migration properties with block copolymers and Diels-Alder chemistry

PMSE 223

Philip J. Costanzo, philip.costanzo@us.army.mil, Weapons and Multifunctional Materials Branch, Army Research Laboratory, 4600 Deer Creek Loop, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005 and Frederick L. Beyer, flbeyer@arl.army.mil, Weapons and Materials Research Directorate, U. S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005-5067.
Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-b-poly(styrene) (PS) block copolymers were prepared by tethering the respective homopolymers together via a Diels-Alder linkage. These thermo-responsive ligands were utilized to disperse Au nanoparticles within a poly(styrene)-b-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) block copolymer. Initially, the particles were located within the PMMA domains to reduce interfacial energy between the PEG shell and PS domains. After annealing, the Diels-Alder linkages were severed, which released the particles from the PEG shell and rendered them with a PS exterior. Particles then migrated to PS domains to reduce interfacial energy.
 

Block Copolymers as Nanoscale Materials
1:30 PM-4:40 PM, Tuesday, 12 September 2006 San Francisco Marriott -- Salon 7, Oral

Division of Polymeric Materials: Science & Engineering

The 232nd ACS National Meeting, San Francisco, CA, September 10-14, 2006