Kinetics and Thermodynamics of Concentrated Block Copolymer Solutions

Isoporous block copolymer (BCP) membranes are interesting candidates for ultrafiltration applications. They can be successfully produced via the ‘self-assembly and nonsolvent-induced phase separation’ process by transferring a block copolymer solution film into a precipitation bath after a specific evaporation time. The thermodynamic and kinetic properties of the block copolymer solutions play a crucial role in this process. A deeper understanding of this complex process enables a more precise prediction of the membrane morphology. Via (U)SAXS and USAXS-XPCS we want to get access to the thermodynamic interaction parameters and diffusion coefficients. Knowing the detailed interaction between all relevant kinetic and thermodynamic parameters will help to complete a simulation model that can be used to predict any membrane structure in the future just by inserting parameters like molecular weight and evaporation time or predicting the parameters to be used in order to obtain the desired.