In this paper, the self-assembly of PS 43-b-PEO 45-b-PS 43 triblcok copolymer was investigated. The colloids were made by firstly dissolving the copolymer in the common solvents, including THF, 1,4-dioxane, and DMF, then droping water into the corresponding copolymer solution to induce the self-assembly. The aggregates prepared were characterized with TEM and AFM techniques. The experimental results demonstrated that the self-assembled vesicles were formed when THF and 1,4-dioxane were used as the common solvents to dissolve the copolymer, comparatively, using DMF as the common solvent resulted in the formation of spherical aggregates. The self-assembled aggregates observed, possessing hierarchical structures, could be used as either the nanostructures themselves for drug delivery systems, separations, catalysts, and so on, or templates or building blocks for more complex structures.
The morphology of poly(styrene ethylene/butylene styrene)(SEBS) triblock copolymer cast from heptane and toluene was studied by combining atomic force microscopy(AFM) with transmission electronics microscopy(TEM). The quantitative agreement of the results of AFM and TEM plays a key role in determining the phase attribution for the AFM images. It is confirmed that under the moderate tapping condition, the hills in AFM height images correspond to the polystyrene phase and the valleys to the rubbery phase.
