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Microphase Separation (of Block Copolymers)

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Encyclopedia of Polymeric Nanomaterials

Synonyms

Block copolymers

Definition

Microphase separation is a phenomenon generated by block copolymers composed of incompatible chemical components, where they tend to spontaneously form phase-separated structures with microscopic length scales due to intramolecular phase separation in bulk or in concentrated solutions. The spatial scales are governed by their chain lengths, while their morphologies can be varied by their relative compositions. The phenomenon happened there is called microphase separation, and the resulting structures are named microphase separation structures or microphase-separated structures. The prefix “micro” used here simply means “small,” and their actual periodicity ranges from, roughly speaking, a few nanometers to several hundred nanometers, depending directly on their chain size, i.e., molecular weight of component polymers.

History

Historically, it was recognized that two-component block copolymers with incompatible components, polystyrene and...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8603, Japan

    Yushu Matsushita

Authors
  1. Yushu Matsushita
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yushu Matsushita .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Fiber and Textile Science, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Matsugasaki, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan

    Shiro Kobayashi

  2. Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz, Germany

    Klaus Müllen

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Matsushita, Y. (2015). Microphase Separation (of Block Copolymers). In: Kobayashi, S., Müllen, K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Polymeric Nanomaterials. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29648-2_149

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