Preparation and morphology control of amphiphilic block copolymer thin films using mixed solvent vapors

A series of well-defined amphiphilic block copolymer (BCP), poly[N,N-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate]-block-polystyrene (PDMAEMA-b-PS), was synthesized using the ARGET ATRP method. Solvent annealing was applied for controlling the thin-film morphologies. A vertical nanocylinder structure forms in the thin film annealed under the vapors of binary mixed solvents from water and tetrahydrofuran which have a strong selectivity for the minority PDMAEMA block.