Fluctuation dynamics of block copolymer vesicles

Abstract

X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy was used to characterize the wave-vector- and temperature-dependent dynamics of spontaneous thermal fluctuations in a vesicle (L4) phase that occurs in a blend of a symmetric poly(styrene-ethylene/butylene-styrene) triblock copolymer with a polystyrene homopolymer. Measurements of the intermediate scattering function reveal stretched-exponential behavior versus time, with a stretching exponent slightly larger than 2/3. The corresponding relaxation rates show an approximate q(3) dependence versus wave vector. Overall, the experimental measurements are well described by theories that treat the dynamics of independent membrane plaquettes.