1. Nanoparticle-Induced Self-Assembly of Block Copolymers into Nanoporous Films at the Air–Water Interface
- Author
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Du Yeol Ryu, Seulki Kang, Robert J. Hickey, So Jung Park, Emilie Ringe, Ryu, Du Yeol [0000-0002-0929-7934], Ringe, Emilie [0000-0003-3743-9204], Hickey, Robert J [0000-0001-6808-7411], Park, So-Jung [0000-0002-6364-3754], and Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository
- Subjects
Materials science ,General Physics and Astronomy ,Nanoparticle ,block copolymer ,02 engineering and technology ,sub-03 ,010402 general chemistry ,01 natural sciences ,Block (telecommunications) ,Copolymer ,General Materials Science ,Porosity ,Nanoscopic scale ,breath figure ,porous ,Nanoporous ,nanoparticle ,General Engineering ,self-assembly ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,0104 chemical sciences ,Chemical engineering ,Volume fraction ,interface ,Self-assembly ,0210 nano-technology - Abstract
Herein, we report the cooperative self-assembly of nanoparticles and block copolymers at the air-water interface, which can generate highly uniform and readily transferable composite films with tunable nanoscale architecture and functionalities. Interestingly, the incorporation of nanoparticles significantly affects the self-assembly of block copolymers at the interface. The nanoparticle-induced morphology change occurs through distinct mechanisms depending on the volume fraction of the hydrophobic block. For block copolymers with a relatively small hydrophobic volume fraction, the morphology transition occurs through the nanoparticle-induced swelling of a selective block. When the hydrophobic volume fraction is large enough, added nanoparticles promote the breath figure assembly, which generates uniform honeycomb-like porous structures with unusual nanoscale periodicity. This approach is generally applicable to various types of nanoparticles, constituting a simple one-step method to porous thin films with various functionalities.
- Published
- 2020