Hard blocks aggregates

Flocculation studies (6) indicated that the mechanism of steric stabilization operates for the PMMA dispersions. The stability of PMMA dispersions was examined further by redispersion of the particles in cyclohexane at 333 K. Above 307 K, cyclohexane is a good solvent for PS and PDMS, and if the PS-PDMS block copolymer was not firmly anchored, desorption of stabilizer by dissolution should occur at 333 K followed by flocculation of the PMMA dispersion. However, little change in dispersion stability was observed over a period of 60 h. Consequently, we may conclude that the PS blocks are firmly anchored within the hard PMMA matrix. However, the indication from neutron scattering of aggregates of PS(D) blocks in PMMA particles may be explained by the observation that two different polymers are often not very compatible on mixing (10) so that the PS(D) blocks are tending to... 

In general, block copolymers are heterogeneous (multiphase) polymer systems, because the different blocks from which they are built are incompatible with each other, as for example, in diene/styrene-block copolymers. This incompatibility, however, does not lead to a complete phase separation because the polystyrene segments can aggregate with each other to form hard domains that hold the polydiene segments together. As a result, block copolymers often combine the properties of the relevant homopolymers. This holds in particular for block copolymers of two monomers A and B. 

The second example concerns the multidisciplinary study of the micelliz-ing block copolymer polystyrene-( -poly(2-vinylpyridine)-ft-poly(ethylene oxide) (PS-PVP-PEO), which shows a high tendency to aggregation and the formation of micellar clusters [88,89]. It shows the application of SRM for studying the mobility and structural details of different domains in micelle-like polymeric nanoparticles. The fluorescence technique reveals interesting features of studied systems that are hardly accessible by other techniques. Section 3.3 is devoted to the development of the methodology of the solvent relaxation technique for studying nanostructured self-assembling systems. 

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