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

In this note, we demonstrate that single-chain scattering functions can be isolated by small-angle neutron scattering for blends of homopolymer and block copolymer. A technique has been developed to phase-match a block copolymer by partial deuteration of one of its blocks. This provides a transparent matrix in which deuterated and protonated chains can be dispersed. By adjusting the concentrations of labeled and unlabeled species, the scattering due to intermolecular correlations can be eliminated. In this way, a scattering function can be obtained which depends only on the correlations between mers on the same homopolymer chain.