Lamellar domain spacing of the ABB graft copolymers

Abstract The molecular weight dependence of lamellar domain spacing of poly(2-vinylpyridine- g -styrene) was measured by small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The samples used are six three-arm star-shaped polymers having one polystyrene arm connected at the centre of a poly(2-vinylpyridine) chain. The volume fractions of grafted polystyrene chains, ƒ s , of the samples range from 0.45 to 0.78, though all the samples were confirmed to have alternating lamellar structure by SAXS and transmission electron microscopy. It was found that the relationship between lamellar domain spading, D , and the molecular weight, M , of the graft copolymers is given by D = 0.015 3 M 0.69 (nm) over the molecular weight range from 49 to 283 k irrespective of the difference in composition. The exponent 0.69 is quite close to 2 3 , which is predicted for AB diblock copolymers by several different theories. However, the magnitude of the prefactor in the above relationship is apparently smaller than that for styrene-2-vinylpyridine diblock copolymers. This difference can be explained by considering the difference in structure between AB diblock copolymers and ABB graft copolymers.