studied at the A/W interface include poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(propylene oxide) (PEO-b-

PPO), polystyrene-b-poly(ethylene oxide) (PS-b-PEO), polybutadiene-b-poly(ethylene oxide)

(PB-b-PEO), and polystyrene-b-polyacrylate.21-24 Block copolymers based on PS and decylated

poly(4-vinylpyridine) (decylated P4VP) have also been extensively investigated at the A/W

interface by Eisenberg and co-workers, and some of their results are presented here to illustrate

the concept of surface micelle formation. Surface micelle formation results from the presence at

the A/W interface of immiscible blocks that phase separate because of sufficiently different

polarities. In the case of PS and decylated P4VP-based block copolymers, only the hydrophilic

decylated P4VP segments adsorb at the A/W interface with the hydrophobic PS segments

desorbing and aggregating above the interface. This results in the formation of well-defined

surface micelles with architectures evolving from circular to rod-like to planar as the PS % in the

diblock copolymers is increased (Figure 1-5).25 Prospective applications of such well-defined

patterns with feature sizes typically in the nanometer scale order include lithographic masks,

photonic materials, and nanopatterned substrates for microelectronics.26-28

 The results presented in Chapters 3, 4, and 5 of this dissertation are all related to the self-

assembly of block copolymers at the A/W interface. While the work presented in Chapters 3 (on

polystyrene-b-poly(tert-butylacrylate) and polystyrene-b-poly(acrylic acid) dendrimer-like block

copolymers) and 4 (on linear and star-shaped poly(ethylene oxi de)-b-poly(e-caprol actone) block

copolymers) describes the interfacial aggregation of several block copolymers on a fundamental

level, the work presented in Chapter 5 (on star-shaped poly(ethylene oxide)-b-hydrosilylated

polybutadiene block copolymers and done in collaboration with Rachid Matmour, graduate

student in the Duran group at the University of Florida) focuses primarily on the use of a post