The development of self-assembled ZnO nanoparticles within a diblock copolymer matrix using wet chemical processing specific to ZnO is reported. Diblock copolymers consisting of polynorbornene and poly(norbornene–dicarboxcylic acid) (NOR/NORCOOH) were synthesized with a block repeat unit ratio of 400 for the first block and 50 for the second block, to obtain spherical microphase separation. The...

Self-assembly of block copolymers has been identified as a potential candidate for high density fabrication of nanostructures. However, the factors affecting its reliability and reproducibility as a patterning technique on various kinds of surfaces are not well-established. Studies pertaining to block copolymer self-assembly have been confined to ultra-flat substrates without taking into consid...

Zirconium oxide (ZrO2) has generated wide interest because of its potential in applications such as solid oxide fuel cells, catalysts and optical devices. In these applications, it is important to control the grain size of the material and increase the surface area by introducing porosity with tailored pore size. This paper presents a synthesis route for the preparation of mesoporous zirconia u...

Phenomena associated with the phase behaviour and self-assembled nanostructures of three block copolymer systems have been studied by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and transmision electron microscopy (TEM). 1) System A-b-B/A (dPS-b-PMMA/PS homopolymer) were studied as a function of molecular weight and concentration of the added homopolymer. The para...

Block copolymer nano-micelles are especially important in cancer treatment because of their fine dimensions. In this article, three systems of amphiphilic copolymers with similar lengths and different ratios of the hydrophobic and hydrophilic chains are studied using implicit-solvent coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations. The factor fphil is defined as the ratio of the number...

Although block copolymer motifs have received considerable attention as supramolecular templates for inorganic nanoparticles, experimental observations of a nanostructured diblock copolymer containing inorganic nanoparticles-supported by theoretical trends predicted from a hybrid self-consistent field/density functional theory-confirm that nanoparticle size and selectivity can likewise stabiliz...

We present methodologies for fabricating block copolymer assemblies grafted onto flat solid substrates, where each block of the copolymer possesses a systematic and gradual variation of molecular weight as a function of the position on the substrate. We demonstrate the utility of this technique on two case studies. In the first project, we generate surface-tethered poly[(2-hydroxyethyl methacry...

Periodic organic-inorganic multilayer films are constructed by stepwise alternate build-up of UV-stabilized poly(styrene-block-vinylpyridine) block copolymer inverse micelles and poly(styrene-block-ethylene oxide) block copolymer layers containing inorganic moieties at the polar core blocks. The layered block copolymer inverse micelle films show strong reflective color and well-defined photonic...

Block copolymer melts have been previously used to control the position and alignment of anisotropic nanoparticles. In this work, 2D 3D mesoscopic simulations are explore phase behavior block copolymer/nanoparticle systems. The method combines a time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau for polymer Brownian dynamics Rhomboidal spheroidal shaped particles simulated in two three dimensions, respectively. It...

Recent advances on the use of mesoporous and mesostructured materials for electronic and optical applications are reported. The focus is on materials which are processed by block-copolymer templating of silica under weakly acidic conditions and by employing dip- and spin-coating as well as soft lithographic methods to bring them into a well-defined macroscopic shape. Several chemical strategies...