Thin film morphology in triblock terpolymers with one and two crystallizable blocks

The thin film morphology of novel polybutadiene-block-polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (PB-b-PS-b-PEO) and polyethylene-block-polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (PE-b-PS-b-PEO) triblock terpolymers was determined by atomic force microscopy. The experiments were carried out on dry, wet, and heated samples in order to vary the contrast among the blocks. The different measurements allowed the discrimination between the PE and the PEO blocks, which was otherwise not possible. The effect of different thermal treatments (related to the crystallization temperatures) on the generated morphology was studied for a confined spherical morphology. The domain size, i.e., disk diameter, was found to increase as the crystallization temperature was increased.