Access through your institution Buy or subscribe Controlling the surface structure of polymer films is pivotal in various fields because it is closely related to surface properties such as

wettability, adhesion, and bioinertness. The surface structure of a multicomponent polymer system is generally governed by thermodynamics, which minimizes the surface free energy (_γ_) of

the system [1,2,3,4]. In diblock copolymer films, a wetting layer incorporating a component with a smaller _γ_ is generally formed at the surface, independent of the bulk microphase

structure [1, 5]. In the case of amphiphilic block copolymers, a hydrophobic surface is often obtained because hydrophobic components tend to exhibit smaller _γ_ values than do hydrophilic

smaller _γ_ value and segregated to form a hydrophilic surface on an amphiphilic diblock copolymer film owing to enhanced molecular motion [9]. This study demonstrated that utilizing the

entropic contribution to _γ_ resulting from significant differences in chain mobility is a powerful tool for controlling the surface chemical composition of polymer films. This is a preview

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2003. Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research was partly supported by the JSJP KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), Grant Number JP24K08541, Japan, and the Sumitomo

Foundation, Grant for Basic Science Research Project, Japan (YO). AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Department of Engineering, Graduate School of Integrated Science and

Technology, Shizuoka University, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan Hayate Narumi & Yukari Oda Authors * Hayate Narumi View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed 

Google Scholar * Yukari Oda View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to Yukari Oda. ETHICS DECLARATIONS

CONFLICT OF INTEREST The authors declare no competing interests. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION PUBLISHER’S NOTE Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published

maps and institutional affiliations. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Narumi, H., Oda,

Y. Surface orientation of amphiphilic block copolymers via thermal annealing. _Polym J_ 57, 335–339 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-024-00999-2 Download citation * Received: 23

August 2024 * Revised: 18 October 2024 * Accepted: 06 November 2024 * Published: 16 December 2024 * Issue Date: March 2025 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-024-00999-2 SHARE THIS

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