Displacement of adsorbed functionalized polystyrene-block-butadiene copolymers by small molecules

This work deals with the displacement of end-anchored copolymers by the addition of solvent displacer. The adsorption behavior of functionalized polystyrene-block-polybutadiene diblock copolymers from dilute solution in toluene using silicon wafers as solid substrates is investigated by means of null-ellipsometry. The desorption phenomena are observed by adding displacers of low molecular weight to the mixture. The displacers used are tetrahydrofuran (THF) and acetone. The critical composition of the binary solvent mixture at which the desorption is complete, is determined experimentally.