Environmental vapor induced self-assembly of an amphiphilic block copolymer poly(styrene-b-acrylamide) onto the solid substrate

The chemical and micro-structural changes at the top surface of the film of amphiphilic block copolymer poly(styrene-b-acrylamide) (PS(950)-b-PAM(50)) induced by different environmental conditions and temperature have been studied. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), and contact angle (CA) goniometry studies revealed that the roughness and the surface property in terms of hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity of the film strongly depend on the environmental conditions. Humidity, presence of solvent vapor and temperature at the time of film preparation have immense role in controlling surface properties. Hence, it is suggested that the surface properties of the amphiphilic block copolymer film can be tuned according to the requirement for its potential applications. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.