Surface Reconstruction in Hydrated Amphiphilic Block Copolymer Thin Films Probed by Fluid Cell Atomic Force Microscopy
-EO) block and the energetic driving forces for chain mobility, this work shows how the elimination of unfavorable PS-water interfaces drives chain rearrangement and coverage of the PS surface by chains of the hydrophilic block. This work highlights considerations for increasing the heterogeneity and complexity of BCP thin films via random blocks and how those changes to local interfacial energies may drive larger scale film morphology reconstructions, with broader implications for tuning interface hydrophilicity.
Authors
- Yuk Mun Li
- Jinhui Tao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1156-9396)
- Elias Nakouzi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0036-8326)
- Konrad R. Hedderick
- William R. T. Tait (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8932-9416)
- Q Zhang
- Katharine W. Oleske (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3750-6913)
- Lara A. Estroff (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7658-1265)
- Ulrich Wiesner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6934-3755)
- Dana V. Akiki (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9605-1886)
Institutions
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (US)
- University of Washington (US)
- Cornell University (US)
- Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (US)
- Tao Systems (United States) (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Macromolecules
- Published
- 2026-04-20
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.5c03044
- Primary Topic
- Block Copolymer Self-Assembly
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- U.S. Department of Energy
- Cornell Center for Materials Research
- Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, Harvard University
- Division of Materials Research
- Basic Energy Sciences
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory