Cylindrically Confined Diblock Copolymers

25th anniversary article: ordered polymer structures for the engineering of photons and phonons

The engineering of optical and acoustic material functionalities via construction of ordered local and global architectures on various length scales commensurate with and well below the characteristic length scales of photons and phonons in the material is an indispensable and powerful means to develop novel materials. In the current mature status of photonics, polymers hold a pivotal role in various application areas such as light-emission, sensing, energy, and displays, with exclusive advantages despite their relatively low dielectric constants. Moreover, in the nascent field of phononics, polymers are expected to be a superior material platform due to the ability for readily fabricated complex polymer structures possessing a wide range of mechanical behaviors, complete phononic bandgaps, and resonant architectures. In this review, polymer-centric photonic and phononic crystals and metamaterials are highlighted, and basic concepts, fabrication techniques, selected functional polymers, applications, and emerging ideas are introduced.

Curved polymer nanodiscs by wetting nanopores of anodic aluminum oxide templates with polymer nanospheres

Although nanostructures with diverse morphologies have been fabricated, it is still a great challenge to prepare anisotropic two-dimensional (2-D) nanostructures, especially non-planar disc-like nanostructures. In this work, we develop a simple method to prepare curved polymer nanodiscs with regular sizes by wetting polymer nanospheres in the nanopores of anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) templates. Polystyrene (PS) nanospheres are first fabricated by using a non-solvent-assisted template wetting method. By annealing the PS nanospheres in the nanopores of AAO templates, curved PS nanodiscs can be produced. The length and morphology of the curved PS nanodiscs can be controlled by the wetting conditions such as the annealing temperatures and times. For some stacked nanospheres, the annealing process can result in the formation of helix-like nanostructures. To demonstrate the universality of this work, this approach is also applied to poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), another common polymer, and similar results are obtained.

Melt infiltration: an emerging technique for the preparation of novel functional nanostructured materials

The rapidly expanding toolbox for design and preparation is a major driving force for the advances in nanomaterials science and technology. Melt infiltration originates from the field of ceramic nanomaterials and is based on the infiltration of porous matrices with the melt of an active phase or precursor. In recent years, it has become a technique for the preparation of advanced materials: nanocomposites, pore-confined nanoparticles, ordered mesoporous and nanostructured materials. Although certain restrictions apply, mostly related to the melting behavior of the infiltrate and its interaction with the matrix, this review illustrates that it is applicable to a wide range of materials, including metals, polymers, ceramics, and metal hydrides and oxides. Melt infiltration provides an alternative to classical gas-phase and solution-based preparation methods, facilitating in several cases extended control over the nanostructure of the materials. This review starts with a concise discussion on the physical and chemical principles for melt infiltration, and the practical aspects. In the second part of this contribution, specific examples are discussed of nanostructured functional materials with applications in energy storage and conversion, catalysis, and as optical and structural materials and emerging materials with interesting new physical and chemical properties. Melt infiltration is a useful preparation route for material scientists from different fields, and we hope this review may inspire the search and discovery of novel nanostructured materials.

Anodized pore structural evolution of focused ion beam patterned Al: direct analysis of branched nanopores and nanosacks

In this work we describe three different trends of pore growth for anodic aluminum oxide nanopores based on their dependence on prepatterned interpore distances. Nanopatterned hexagonal concave arrays were formed by focused ion beam (FIB) lithography on aluminum foil with interpore distances in the range of 100 to 240 nm and the Al foil was anodized under the standard conditions known to result in a 100 nm interpore distance. This method allowed a systematic investigation of pore formation under the non-equilibrium conditions created by the FIB prepatterning. The pore diameter and the pore growth direction, which are affected by the interpore distance, were measured by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis with ion milling. When the interpore distance increases from 100 to 140 nm, the pore diameter becomes larger and nanopores are slightly tilted but maintained the interpore distance and straightness. As the interpore distance increases from 150 to 180 nm, the pore diameter becomes smaller and each nanopore starts to split into two nanopores. At interpore distances of over 190 nm, prepatterned concaves are developed into round flask-shaped nanosacks instead of one-dimensional tubes, and then these are split into three more sub-nanopores. The fundamental characteristics of anodic aluminum oxidation are discussed in accordance with various prepatterned concaves in the nanopore growth processes, providing a rational theory for the design of various complex 3-D AAO structures that can be controlled by prepatterning.

Self-assembly and chemical processing of block copolymers: a roadmap towards a diverse array of block copolymer nanostructures

Block copolymers can yield a diverse array of nanostructures. Their assembly structures are influenced by their inherent structures, and the wide variety of structures that can be prepared especially becomes apparent when one considers the number of routes available to prepare block copolymer assemblies. Some examples include self-assembly, directed assembly, coupling, as well as hierarchical assembly, which can yield assemblies having even higher structural order. These assembly routes can also be complemented by processing techniques such as selective crosslinking and etching, the former technique leading to permanent structures, the latter towards sculpted and the combination of the two towards permanent sculpted structures. The combination of these pathways provides extremely versatile routes towards an exciting variety of architectures. This review will attempt to highlight destinations reached by LIU Guojun and coworkers following these pathways.

Segmented helical structures formed by ABC star copolymers in nanopores

Self-assembly of ABC star triblock copolymers confined in cylindrical nanopores is studied using self-consistent mean-field theory. With an ABC terpolymer forming hexagonally-arranged cylinders, segmented into alternative B and C domains, in the bulk, we observe the formation in the nanopore of a segmented single circular and non-circular cylinder, a segmented single-helix, and a segmented double-helix as stable phases, and a metastable stacked-disk phase with fourfold symmetry. The phase sequence from single-cylinder, to single-helix, and then to double-helix, is similar as that in the cylindrically-confined diblock copolymers except for the absence of an equilibrium stacked-disk phase. It is revealed that the arrangement of the three-arm junctions plays a critical role for the structure formation. One of the most interesting features in the helical structures is that there are two periods: the period of the B/C domains in the helix and the helical period. We demonstrate that the period numbers of the B/C domains contained in each helical period can be tuned by varying the pore diameter. In addition, it is predicted that the period number of B/C domains can be any rational in real helical structures whose helical period can be tuned freely.

Reversible adhesion switching of porous fibrillar adhesive pads by humidity

We report reversible adhesion switching on porous fibrillar polystyrene-block-poly(2-vinyl pyridine) (PS-b-P2VP) adhesive pads by humidity changes. Adhesion at a relative humidity of 90% was more than nine times higher than at a relative humidity of 2%. On nonporous fibrillar adhesive pads of the same material, adhesion increased only by a factor of ~3.3. The switching performance remained unchanged in at least 10 successive high/low humidity cycles. Main origin of enhanced adhesion at high humidity is the humidity-induced decrease in the elastic modulus of the polar component P2VP rather than capillary force. The presence of spongelike continuous internal pore systems with walls consisting of P2VP significantly leveraged this effect. Fibrillar adhesive pads on which adhesion is switchable by humidity changes may be used for preconcentration of airborne particulates, pollutants, and germs combined with triggered surface cleaning.

Wettability transition induced transformation and entrapment of polymer nanostructures in cylindrical nanopores

We apply the concept of wettability transition to manipulate the morphology and entrapment of polymer nanostructures inside cylindrical nanopores of anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes. When AAO/polystyrene (PS) hybrids, i.e., AAO/PS nanorods or AAO/PS nanotubes, are immersed into a polyethylene glycol (PEG) reservoir above the glass transition temperature of PS, a wettability transition from wetting to nonwetting of PS can be triggered due to the invasion of the more wettable PEG melt. The wettability transition enables us to develop a nondestructive method to entrap hemispherically capped nanorods inside nanopores. Moreover, we can obtain single nanorods with the desired aspect ratio by further dissolving the AAO template, in contrast to the drawbacks of nonuniformity or destructiveness from the conventional ultrasonication method. In the case of AAO/PS nanotubes, the wettability transition induced dewetting of PS nanotube walls results in the disconnection and entrapment of nonwetting PS domains (i.e., nanospheres, nanocapsules, or capped nanorods). Moreover, PEG is then washed to recover the pristine wettability of PS on the alumina surface; further annealing of the PS nanospheres inside AAO nanopores under vacuum can generate some unique nanostructures, particularly semicylindrical nanorods.

Dynamics of interacting edge defects in copolymer lamellae

It is known that terraces at the air-polymer interface of lamella-forming diblock copolymers do not make discontinuous jumps in height. Despite the underlying discretized structure, the height profiles are smoothly varying. The width of a transition region of a terrace edge in isolation is typically several hundreds of nanometres, resulting from a balance between surface tension, chain stretching penalties, and the enthalpy of mixing. What is less well known in these systems is what happens when two transition regions interact with one another. In this study, we investigate the dynamics of the interactions between copolymer lamellar edges. We find that the data can be well described by a model that assumes a repulsion between adjacent edges. While the model is simplistic, and does not include molecular level details, its agreement with the data suggests that some of the the underlying assumptions provide insight into the complex interplay between defects.

Hierarchically structured materials from block polymer confinement within bicontinuous microemulsion-derived nanoporous polyethylene

The self-assembly behavior of block polymers under strong two-dimensional and three-dimensional confinement has been well-studied in the past decade. Confinement effects enable access to a large suite of morphologies not typically observed in the bulk. We have used nanoporous polyethylene, derived from a polymeric bicontinuous microemulsion, as a novel template for the confinement of several different cylinder-forming block polymer systems: poly(isoprene-b-2-vinylpyridine), poly(styrene-b-isoprene), and poly(isoprene-b-dimethylsiloxane). The resultant materials exhibit unique hierarchical arrangements of structure with two distinct length scales. First, the polyethylene template imparts a disordered, microemulsion-like periodicity between bicontinuous polyethylene and block polymer networks with sizes on the order of 100 nm. Second, the block polymer networks display internal periodic arrangements produced by the spontaneous segregation of their incompatible constituents. The microphase-separated morphologies observed are similar to those previously reported for confinement of block polymers in cylindrical pores. However, at present, the morphologies are spatially variant in a complex manner, due to the three-dimensionally interconnected nature of the confining geometry and its distribution in pore sizes. We have further exploited the unique structure of the polyethylene template to generate new hierarchically structured porous monoliths. Poly(isoprene-b-2-vinylpyridine) is used as a model system in which the pyridine block is cross-linked, post-infiltration, and the polyethylene template is subsequently extracted. The resultant materials possess a three-dimensionally continuous pore network, of which the pore walls retain the unique, microphase-separated morphology of the confined block polymer.

Soft confinement-induced morphologies of diblock copolymers

The self-assembly of diblock copolymers under soft confinement is studied systematically using a simulated annealing method applied to a lattice model of polymers. The soft confinement is realized by the formation of polymer droplets in a poor solvent environment. Multiple sequences of soft confinement-induced copolymer aggregates with different shapes and self-assembled internal morphologies are predicted as functions of solvent-polymer interaction and the monomer concentration. It is discovered that the self-assembled internal morphology of the aggregates is largely controlled by a competition between the bulk morphology of the copolymer and the solvent-polymer interaction, and the shape of the aggregates can be non-spherical when the internal morphology is anisotropic and the solvent-polymer interaction is weak. These results demonstrate that droplets of diblock copolymers formed in poor solvents can be used as a model system to study the self-assembly of copolymers under soft confinement.

Swelling-induced morphology reconstruction in block copolymer nanorods: kinetics and impact of surface tension during solvent evaporation

Nanoscopic domain structures of BCP nanorods can be converted into well-defined mesopore systems by swelling the BCP minority component with a selective solvent at temperatures below the bulk glass transition temperature of the nonswelling matrix. The initial stage of this process involves rapid morphology reconstruction of the nonswelling majority domains to accommodate the increased volume of the swelling minority domains caused by rapid solvent uptake. Morphology reconstruction slows down once entropic restoring forces of the swelling chains impede further uptake of swelling agent. Upon evaporation of the swelling agent, mesopores form in place of the swollen domains as the swollen minority blocks undergo entropic relaxation while intermediate nonequilibrium morphologies in the BCP nanorods are fixated by the reconstructed majority component. The surface area of mesopores developing when swollen cylindrical minority domains collapse may be minimized by the growth of Rayleigh instabilities. Depending on swelling temperature, swelling agent, and BCP architecture, BCP nanorods with one or several cylindrical channels undulated or uniform in diameter running along their long axes, linear strings of spherical cavities, and continuous mesopore systems can be obtained.

ABC triblock copolymer vesicles with mesh-like morphology

Polymer vesicles made from poly(isoprene-b-styrene-b-2-vinyl pyridine) (PI-b-PS-b-P2VP) triblock copolymer confined within the nanopores of an anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane are studied. It was found that these vesicles have well-defined, nanoscopic size, and complex microphase-separated hydrophobic membranes, comprised of the PS and PI blocks, while the coronas are formed by the P2VP block. Vesicle formation was tracked using both transmission and scanning electron microscopy. A mesh-like morphology formed in the membrane at a well-defined composition of the three blocks that can be tuned by changing the copolymer composition. The nanoscale confinement, copolymer composition, and subtle molecular interactions contribute to the generation of these vesicles with such unusual morphologies.