title: Morphology of crystalline-amorphous olefin block copolymers in solution characterized by small-angle neutron scattering and microscopy.
abstract: The single-chain properties and self-assembly behavior in dilute solution of olefin block copolymers obtained by chain-shuttling technology and consisting of alternating crystallizable and amorphous ethylene/1-octene blocks were investigated by pinhole and focusing small-angle neutron scattering techniques, optical microscopy in bright-field and crossed-polarizer modes, and differential scanning calorimetry. The complex hydrocarbon soluble (precipitant free) macro-aggregates formed with decreasing temperature are characterized by spherulitic textures. The spherulites yield, on one hand, a morphology that depends on the chain structure properties and, on the other hand, multiple structural levels with a hierarchical organization that ranges from 10 Å up to tens of micrometres. This morphology displays peculiarities dictated by the polydisperse character of these materials.
authors.affiliation: Jülich Centre for Neutron Science - Outstation at MLZ, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH , Lichtenbergstrasse 1, Garching, 85747, Germany.
authors.forename: Aurel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Radulescu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Soft Matter and Functional Materials, Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie, Berlin, 12489, Germany.
authors.forename: Günter
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Goerigk
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-5201, USA.
authors.forename: Lewis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fetters
authors.affiliation: Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS-1) and Institute for Complex Systems (ICS-1), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, 52425, Germany.
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Richter
keywords: block copolymers; crystallization from solution; optical microscopy; small-angle neutron scattering