Crystal-like pattern formation in polymerization-induced phase separation.
A unique domain structure was found in liquid-liquid phase separation induced by radical polymerization of 4-chlorostyrene monomer in the presence of random copolymer poly(dimethylsiloxane-co-diphenylsiloxane). Droplets with a narrow size distribution were generated by phase separation, and these droplets hardly coalesced by collisions. With the growth of droplet size, droplets gradually filled the space and spontaneously arranged themselves in a regular array like a crystal. The mechanism of regular array formation was discussed based on the large difference in viscoelastic properties between two segregating components.
Matsushita
Yuichiro
Y
Department of Polymer Chemistry, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8552, Japan.
Furukawa
Hidemitsu
H
Okada
Mamoru
M