SEBS aggregate patterning at a surface studied by atomic force microscopy.

The morphologies of films spin coated from dilute block copolymer solution onto a mica substrate were studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Variables of interest were the polymer concentration, solvent, heating temperature, aging, and ultrasonic effect. It is shown that the solution concentration is the predominant factor in determining the shape of the aggregates displayed from spheres and rods to irregular patches with increasing concentration. The solubility parameter of the solvent plays an important role in modifying the distribution and the size of clusters at the surface. The structures of the aggregates at the surface are metastable, which could evolve with temperature from rodlike aggregates into regular stripes when annealed at a temperature higher than the order-disorder transition temperature of SEBS, whereas those in solution could evolve with aging and ultrasonic treatment into a more stable network structure.