Self-Assembly of Block Copolymer Thin Films and Their Applications

Abstract

Inorganic nanomaterials have paid much attention in promising research fields because of their unique properties such as quantum effects, surface functionalization, and high surface-to-volume ratio. Furthermore, arrays of nanomaterials like nanodot and nanopattern remarkably improved electronic and optical properties. Among a rich variety of templates for nanomaterials, functional block copolymers(BCPs) are very useful and effective, because metal ions are selectively incorporated into one of the blocks via electrostatic interactions, and morphologies and size can be easily tuned in nanoscale according to their molecular weights of two different blocks. Herein, we demonstrate the synthesis of highly ordered inorganic nanomaterials by using poly(styrene-block-4-vinylpyridine) and poly (styrene-block-acrylic acid) copolymer templates. The resulting arrays of inorganic nanomaterials are applied to various applications including energy conversion devices and chemical sensors.