Poly(Styrene-<i>block</i>-Glyicdyl Methacrylate-<i>block</i>-Methyl Methacrylate) as a Versatile Platform for Exploring the Phase Diagram of Linear Triblock Copolymers

Block copolymers have been of great interest because of their intrinsic ability to self-assemble into myriad ordered structures with characteristic dimensions on the order of nanometers. In particular, diblock copolymers have been the primary focus of most research because of their simple architecture leading to a comprehensive understanding of their phase diagram. In contrast, adding a third block greatly increases the number of parameters affecting the self-assembly behavior which in turn greatly increases the number of phases accessible.
We have designed a new linear triblock consisting of poly(styrene-b-glycidyl methacrylate-b-methyl methacrylate) as a new platform for exploring the phase diagram of linear triblock copolymers. The reactive glycidyl methacrylate block can be functionalized with small molecules to modify the Flory-Huggins χ parameter between the middle block and the outer blocks. Thus, we can observe the effect of the changing χ values directly since they are all derived from the same batch.