Inverted cylindrical microdomains by binary blends of AB/AC block copolymers with hydrogen bonding interactions

AB type block copolymers generally show hexagonally packed cylindrical microdomains at a volume fraction of cylindrical microdomain having 0.2 ~ 0.35. In this study, we obtained inverted cylindrical structures consisting of the major block in the minor matrix by using a binary blend consisting of lamella-forming polystyrene-block-poly(2-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P2VP) and polystyrene-block-poly(4-hydroxystyrene) (PS-b-PHS), where hydrogen bonding occurs between P2VP and PHS blocks. We found, via transmission electron microscopy and small angle X-ray scattering, inverted HEX cylindrical microdomains having the volume fraction of the cylinders of 0.65.