Morphology Control of Highly Sulfonated Block Copolymers by a Simple Thermal Process

Well-defined sulfonated block copolymers were prepared by direct thermolysis with block copolymers of n-butyl acrylate (nBA) and neopentyl styrene sulfonated (NSS), which were synthesized by Cu-based living radical polymerization ((M) over bar (w)/(M) over bar (n) <1.20). A simple thermal process for 10 min at 150 degrees C completely deprotected the neopentyl groups in the poly(NSS) block segment to give fully sulfonated polystyrene backbone. SAXS profile of the block copolymer with 47 wt.-% of poly(NSS) showed lamella structure, which appeared more clearly with long ranged order after sulfonation of the block copolymer.