Single-molecule tracking (SMT) was used to probe the
alignment of cylindrical microdomains in polystyrene鈥損oly(ethylene oxide) diblock copolymer (PS-
b-PEO) films induced by directional solvent penetration. PS-
b-PEO films were supported between two glass plates. Aligned PEO domains were obtained upon horizontal penetration of 1,4-dioxane vapor through the films, while no observable
alignment occurred when benzene or toluene was used. Domain
alignment was assessed by SMT, using a dye that partitions into PEO. More than 70% of the dye molecules exhibited one-dimensional (1D) diffusion along the dioxane penetration direction. Quantitative assessment of 1D trajectory
alignment yielded an order parameter of ca. 0.9. A high degree of domain order was observed across millimeter distances throughout the 4 渭m thick films. PEO domain size (ca. 11 nm radius) was determined from the probe positioning
error. These results demonstrate the utility of SMT methods for characterization of nanoscale domains in cylinder-forming block copolymer films.
Keywords:
single-molecule tracking; cylinder-forming polystyrene鈭抪oly(ethylene oxide) block copolymer; solvent vapor permeation; alignment&qsSearchArea=searchText">long-range alignment; orthogonal regression analysis