title: Cornucopia of Nanoscale Ordered Phases in Sphere-Forming Tetrablock Terpolymers.
abstract: We report the phase behavior of a series of poly(styrene)-b-poly(isoprene)-b-poly(styrene)'-b-poly(ethylene oxide) (SIS'O) tetrablock terpolymers. This study was motivated by self-consistent field theory (SCFT) calculations that anticipate a rich array of sphere-forming morphologies with variations in the molecular symmetry parameter τ = NS/(NS + NS'), where N is the block degree of polymerization and the volume fraction of O is less than about 0.22. Eight SIS'O samples, with τ ranging from 0.21 to 0.73, were synthesized and investigated using small-angle X-ray scattering and transmission electron microscopy, yielding evidence of nine different spherical phases: hexagonal, FCC, HCP, BCC, rhombohedral (tentative), liquid-like packing, dodecagonal quasicrystal, and Frank-Kasper σ and A15 phases. At temperatures close to the order-disorder transition, these tetrablocks behave as pseudo-[SIS']-O diblocks and form equilibrium morphologies mediated by facile chain exchange between micelles. Transition from equilibrium to nonequilibrium behavior occurs at a temperature (Terg) several tens of degrees below the order-disorder transition temperature, speculated to be coincident with the loss of ergodicity, as chain exchange is arrested due to increased segregation strength between the core (O) and corona (SIS') blocks. Nonequilibrium ordered structures form when T < Terg; these are interpreted using SCFT calculations to elucidate the free energy landscape driving ordering in the S and I block matrix. These experiments demonstrate a profound dependence on phase stability with variations in τ and temperature, providing insights into the formation of ordered phase symmetry in this class of asymmetric multiblock polymers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota , Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States.
authors.forename: Siddharth
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chanpuriya
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota , Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States.
authors.forename: Kyungtae
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota , Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States.
authors.forename: Jingwen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute , Troy, New York 12180, United States.
authors.forename: Sangwoo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota , Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States.
authors.forename: Akash
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arora
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota , Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States.
authors.forename: Kevin D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Dorfman
authors.affiliation: Materials Research Laboratory, University of California , Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States.
authors.forename: Kris T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Delaney
authors.affiliation: Materials Research Laboratory, University of California , Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States.
authors.forename: Glenn H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Fredrickson
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota , Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States.
authors.forename: Frank S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Bates
keywords: Frank−Kasper phases; multiblock polymer; phase behavior; quasicrystal; self-consistent-field theory