Salt Complexation in Block Copolymer Thin Films

Ion complexation within cylinder-forming block copolymer thin films was found to affect the ordering process of the copolymer films during solvent annealing, significantly enhancing the long-range positional order. Small amounts of alkali halide or metal salts were added to PS-b-PEO, on the order of a few ions per chain, where the salt complexed with the PEO block. The orientation of the cylindrical microdomains strongly depended on the salt concentration and the ability of the ions to complex with PEO. The process shows large flexibility in the choice of salt used, including gold or cobalt salts, whereby well-organized patterns of nanoparticles can be generated inside the copolymer microdomains. By further increasing the amount of added salts, the copolymer remained highly ordered at large degrees of swelling and demonstrated long-range positional correlations of the microdomains in the swollen state, which holds promise as a route to addressable media.