The nanostructures of a series of rod–coil block copolymers, designed for photovoltaic
applications, are studied by atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy.
The copolymers are composed of a semiconducting poly-p-phenylenevinylene rod with (2′-
ethyl)-hexyloxy side chains and a functionalized coil block of various length and flexibility.
Both, as deposited and annealed block copolymer films were investigated. The results show
that highly ordered structures are only obtained if the coil block is characterized by a glass …