Morphology Diagram of a Diblock Copolymer-Aluminosilicate Nanoparticle System

We explore the morphology space of nanocomposites prepared from poly(isoprene-block-ethylene oxide) (PI-b-PEO) diblock copolymers as structure directing agents for aluminosilicate nanoparticles prepared from (3-glycidytoxypropyl)trimethoxysilane (GLYMO) and aluminum(III) sec-butoxide. The results of structural investigations of over 60 polymer-Inorganic nanocomposites are reported. They are obtained from 12 different block copolymers of varying molecular weight (similar to 10-100 kg/mol) and PEO weight fraction (f(w) similar to 0.1-0.8) through addition of different amounts of inorganic components. Eight different morphologies as well as composites with biphasic character are observed. Individual block copolymers show up to five different well-defined morphologies upon addition of the inorganic sols. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies on the composites show that the addition of the inorganic components suppresses PEO crystallization when the inorganic to PEO weight fraction ratio of the composites is greater than 1.3-1.5. The eight phases are mapped out using two- and three-component morphology diagrams.