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Insights into the influence of solvent polarity on the crystallization of poly(ethylene oxide) spin-coated thin films via in situ grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering

Toolan, Daniel T.W. ; Isakova, Anna ; Hodgkinson, Richard ; Reeves-Mclaren, Nik ; Hammond, Oliver S. ; Edler, Karen J. LU orcid ; Briscoe, Wuge H. ; Arnold, Thomas ; Gough, Tim and Topham, Paul D. , et al. (2016) In Macromolecules 49(12). p.4579-4586
Abstract

Controlling polymer thin-film morphology and crystallinity is crucial for a wide range of applications, particularly in thin-film organic electronic devices. In this work, the crystallization behavior of a model polymer, poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), during spin-coating is studied. PEO films were spun-cast from solvents possessing different polarities (chloroform, THF, and methanol) and probed via in situ grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering. The crystallization behavior was found to follow the solvent polarity order (where chloroform < THF < methanol) rather than the solubility order (where THF > chloroform > methanol). When spun-cast from nonpolar chloroform, crystallization largely followed Avrami kinetics,... (More)

Controlling polymer thin-film morphology and crystallinity is crucial for a wide range of applications, particularly in thin-film organic electronic devices. In this work, the crystallization behavior of a model polymer, poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), during spin-coating is studied. PEO films were spun-cast from solvents possessing different polarities (chloroform, THF, and methanol) and probed via in situ grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering. The crystallization behavior was found to follow the solvent polarity order (where chloroform < THF < methanol) rather than the solubility order (where THF > chloroform > methanol). When spun-cast from nonpolar chloroform, crystallization largely followed Avrami kinetics, resulting in the formation of morphologies comprising large spherulites. PEO solutions cast from more polar solvents (THF and methanol) do not form well-defined highly crystalline morphologies and are largely amorphous with the presence of small crystalline regions. The difference in morphological development of PEO spun-cast from polar solvents is attributed to clustering phenomena that inhibit polymer crystallization. This work highlights the importance of considering individual components of polymer solubility, rather than simple total solubility, when designing processing routes for the generation of morphologies with optimum crystallinities or morphologies.

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publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
in
Macromolecules
volume
49
issue
12
pages
8 pages
publisher
The American Chemical Society (ACS)
external identifiers
  • scopus:84976562963
ISSN
0024-9297
DOI
10.1021/acs.macromol.6b00312
language
English
LU publication?
no
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2016 American Chemical Society.
id
a01f308c-e61b-4377-91ee-64391cbf5f83
date added to LUP
2023-03-29 11:24:06
date last changed
2023-03-31 13:54:41
@article{a01f308c-e61b-4377-91ee-64391cbf5f83,
  abstract     = {{<p>Controlling polymer thin-film morphology and crystallinity is crucial for a wide range of applications, particularly in thin-film organic electronic devices. In this work, the crystallization behavior of a model polymer, poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), during spin-coating is studied. PEO films were spun-cast from solvents possessing different polarities (chloroform, THF, and methanol) and probed via in situ grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering. The crystallization behavior was found to follow the solvent polarity order (where chloroform &lt; THF &lt; methanol) rather than the solubility order (where THF &gt; chloroform &gt; methanol). When spun-cast from nonpolar chloroform, crystallization largely followed Avrami kinetics, resulting in the formation of morphologies comprising large spherulites. PEO solutions cast from more polar solvents (THF and methanol) do not form well-defined highly crystalline morphologies and are largely amorphous with the presence of small crystalline regions. The difference in morphological development of PEO spun-cast from polar solvents is attributed to clustering phenomena that inhibit polymer crystallization. This work highlights the importance of considering individual components of polymer solubility, rather than simple total solubility, when designing processing routes for the generation of morphologies with optimum crystallinities or morphologies.</p>}},
  author       = {{Toolan, Daniel T.W. and Isakova, Anna and Hodgkinson, Richard and Reeves-Mclaren, Nik and Hammond, Oliver S. and Edler, Karen J. and Briscoe, Wuge H. and Arnold, Thomas and Gough, Tim and Topham, Paul D. and Howse, Jonathan R.}},
  issn         = {{0024-9297}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  number       = {{12}},
  pages        = {{4579--4586}},
  publisher    = {{The American Chemical Society (ACS)}},
  series       = {{Macromolecules}},
  title        = {{Insights into the influence of solvent polarity on the crystallization of poly(ethylene oxide) spin-coated thin films via <i>in situ </i>grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.6b00312}},
  doi          = {{10.1021/acs.macromol.6b00312}},
  volume       = {{49}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}