Lamellar morphology induced by two-step surface-directed spinodal decomposition in binary polymer mixture films.
A novel process for obtaining ordered morphology on the basis of two-step surface-directed spinodal decomposition is numerically investigated. The formation mechanism and evolution dynamics of this process are also discussed in detail. The calculated results of the chemical potential demonstrate that the equilibration state at the first quench affects the competition between the surface potential and the chemical potential in the bulk, leading to a surprising lamellar structure at the second further quench. It is also found that the lamella formation obeys the logarithmic growth. These results could provide a new approach for fabricating ordered structure of polymer materials and stimulate experimental studies based on this subject.
Yan
Li-Tang
LT
Advanced Materials Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, People's Republic of China.
Xie
Xu-Ming
XM