Nanopatterning in Langmuir-Blodgett Monolayers of a Thermoresponsive Double Hydrophilic Block Copolymer Studied by Atomic Force Microscopy

The microphase-separation of Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) monolayers of a rhodamine B (RhB) end-labeled double hydrophilic block copolymer (DHBC), RhB-Poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide)-b-poly(N,N-diethylacryl-amide) (RhB-PDMA(207)b-PDEA177) and the 1:1 segmental mixture of PDEA and RhB-PDMA homopolymers was followed by AFM. The DHBC LB films revealed a loose distribution of nano-aggregates with variable geometries below the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of PDEA (32 degrees C) and low surface pressure (3 mN m(-1)). By increasing either the temperature above the LCST of PDEA or the surface pressure beyond the immersion regime of PDMA in the subphase (7 mN m(-1)) a dense nanopatterning was obtained. The absence of a corresponding regular nanopatterning in LB films of mixed homopolymers with the same composition highlights the role of the covalent bonding between PDEA and PDMA on the self-segregation of the two blocks at the air-water interface.