SAXS investigation on aggregation phenomena in supercritical CO2.

Synchrotron Small-Angle X-Ray scattering (SAXS) measurements on aggregate formation of a Polyvinyl acetate- b-Perfluoro octyl acrylate (PVAc- b-PFOA) block copolymer in supercritical CO(2) are here reported. Experiments were carried out for a series of different thermodynamic conditions, changing the solvent density by profiling both the pressure at constant temperature and the temperature at constant pressure. This block copolymer and in general fluorocarbon-hydrocarbon di-blocks form aggregates depending on the value of CO(2) density. A sharp transition between monomers dissolved as random coils and micelles characterized by a solvophilic shell and a solvophobic core occurs when the CO(2)…

Contributory presentations/posters

A combined small-angle neutron and X-ray scattering study of block copolymers micellisation in supercritical carbon dioxide

Small angle neutron and X-ray scattering (SANS and SAXS) are used to investigate the monomer–aggregate transition of fluorocarbon–hydrocarbon diblock copolymers in supercritical carbon dioxide. SANS data are analyzed using a polydisperse sphere core–shell model. Synchrotron SAXS data have been collected by profiling the pressure at different temperatures, and critical micellization densities have been obtained for a series of diblock solutions. Finally pressure jump experiments, combined with synchrotron SAXS, have revealed two steps in the dynamics of the formation of the aggregates.