Thermal and Morphological Behaviour of Well‐Defined Amphiphilic Triblock Copolymers Based on Cyclohexyl and Di(ethylene glycol) Methyl Ether Methacrylates

The microphase separation and morphology of PDEG‐b‐PCH‐b‐PDEG and PCH‐b‐PDEG‐b‐PCH amphiphilic triblock copolymers have been studied by DSC, SAXS and AFM. A clear first‐order scattering peak was observed for most of the triblock copolymers, independent of the macroinitiator used. This diffraction has been ascribed to the development of a lamellar structure, which was confirmed by AFM. On the other hand, the existence of an ODT upon heating was observed for most of the triblock copolymers. The ODT location was dependent on the outer segment molecular weights, shifting at higher temperatures as the polymerisation degree increased. WAXS profiles were checked to determine the glass transition and ODT temperatures. magnified image