Gelation of Photonic Microdomain Structures Formed in Semi-Dilute Solutions of Ultra-High-Molecular-Weight Polystyrene-b-Polybutadiene with Various Polybutadiene Contents

Well-ordered microdomain structures were obtained in semi-dilute solutions and successfully stabilized by gelation. We used polystyrene-b-polybutadiene (PS-b-PB) diblock copolymer with the weight-averaged molecular weight varying from several hundred thousands to millions g/mol. The solutions had iridescent colors because the domain spacing is on the order of the wavelength of visible light. As the structures are susceptible to distortion by flow or vibration, structural fixation was carried out by gelation. The polybutadiene used has the microstructure of 1,2-linkage and hence the chains can be cross-linkable. The Small-Angle X-ray Scattering and the UV-vis spectroscopic measurements showed that in the case of PS-b-PBs with the PB volume fraction, φPB, greater than about 50 vol % the microdomain structures were successfully fixed by gelation, while largely distorted in the case of those with φPB < ca. 50 vol %. The SAXS scattering intensities were quantitatively analyzed by the scattering functions numerically calculated based on the one- and two-dimensional paracrystal theories and on the concentration fluctuation between the polymers and the solvent molecules.