Effect of Block Copolymer Self-Assembly on Phase Separation in Photopolymerizable Epoxy Blends.

Directing self-assembly of photopolymerizable systems is advantageous for controlling polymer nanostructure and material properties, but developing techniques for inducing ordered structure remains challenging. In this work, well-defined diblock or random copolymers were incorporated into cationic photopolymerizable epoxy systems to investigate the impact of copolymer architecture on self-assembly and phase separated nanostructures. Copolymers consisting of poly(hydroxyethyl acrylate)(butyl acrylate) were prepared using photoiniferter polymerization to control functional group placement and molecular weight/polydispersity.