Structural characterization of radiation‐grafted block copolymer films, using SANS technique

We report small‐angle neutron scattering studies of grafted copolymer films of perfluorinated poly(ethylene propylene), FEP, base polymer and polystyrene, PS, grafted blocks. The films show highly anisotropic scattering patterns, revealing nematic‐like ordering of the crystalline domain structure as a consequence of the processing conditions. Upon grafting, the styrene swells the amorphous domains in the copolymer formation. For styrene content beyond roughly 15%, the amorphous regimes increase on the cost of crystalline domains. To stabilize the rather well‐defined domain structure already given by the original FEP base material, the samples need to be cross‐linked. Without cross‐linking, the nanometer length scale domains vanish, and some large scale structure takes over, likely driven by the immiscibility between FEP and PS.