Observation of single‐chain scattering from homopolymer blended with a triblock copolymer

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Abstract
A small‐angle neutron scattering method has been developed to determine the chain conformation of homopolymer chains dispersed in a block copolymer matrix. Two contrast matching techniques are used to achieve this result and are demonstrated for a system based on a styrene‐hydrogenated butadiene‐styrene triblock copolymer and a hydrogenated butadiene homo‐polymer. Composition matching uses a blend of labeled and unlabeled molecules to match the scattering density of another component. Phase matching requires a block copolymer which has been synthesized such that the scattering densities of the blocks are equal. This polymer provides a transparent matrix in which a composition‐matched blend of homopolymer can be dispersed to isolate the single‐chain scattering function of the homopolymer chains.