Nano Spray‐Dried Block Copolymer Nanoparticles and Their Transformation into Hybrid and Inorganic Nanoparticles

Abstract

A novel combination of block copolymer (BCP) nano spray-drying (NSD), solvent annealing, and selective metal oxide growth is utilized to create functional polymer nanoparticles, polymer-metal-oxide hybrid nanoparticles, and templated metal oxide nanoparticles with tunable composition, internal morphology, and porosity. NSD of BCPs from chloroform and toluene solutions results in porous and nonporous nanoparticles, respectively, with various degrees of phase separation. Further tuning of the nanoparticle internal morphology is performed by solvent annealing the spray-dried particles with judicious choice of the nonsolvent dispersion medium and the surfactant, yielding assembly of both blocks at the surface of the nanoparticles. Finally, ZnO and Al 2 O 3 are grown inside the polar blocks of phase-ordered nanoparticles using a sequential infiltration synthesis method, in a post-assembly process, resulting in hybrid BCP-ZnO particles and BCP-templated Al 2 O 3 nanoparticles, as demonstrated by scanning transmission electron microscopy tomography. These structure engineering methods open new ways to direct and template functional nanoparticles.

Transformable Colloidal Polymer Particles with Ordered Internal Structures

“…[ 1–8 ] A 3D confined assembly of block copolymers (BCPs) that enables the generation of internally ordered colloidal particles with various shapes has received increasing attentions in the last two decades. [ 9–18 ] In particular, lots of efforts have been paid to an emulsion solvent evaporation‐induced 3D soft confined assembly. [ 19–26 ] Attributed to the deformable shape, adjustable size, and boundary conditions, emulsion droplets enable flexible designing for the morphology of BCP colloidal particles.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] A 3D confined assembly of block copolymers (BCPs) that enables the generation of internally ordered colloidal particles with various shapes has received increasing attentions in the last two decades. [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] In particular, lots of efforts have been paid to an emulsion solvent evaporation-induced Based on studies combining experiments and simulations, internally ordered colloidal particles that are able to undergo morphological transformations both in shape and internal structure are presented. The particles are prepared by emulsion solvent evaporation-induced 3D soft confined assembly of diblock copolymer polystyrene-block-poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P4VP).…”

Shaping Block Copolymer Microparticles by pH-Responsive Core-Cross-Linked Polymeric Nanoparticles

“…Block copolymer (BCP) microparticles with controllable morphology have drawn increasing attention, because of their wide applications in drug release, energy storage, photonic crystals, and other fields. − Several methods have been reported for the preparation of BCP microparticles. − Recently, three-dimensional (3D) soft confined self-assembly of BCPs in emulsion droplets has been confirmed to be an effective method for generating BCPs microparticles with controllable morphology and phase structure. − In the evaporative emulsion induced 3D confined assembly, the interfacial interaction between BCP and water is one of the most critical factors to regulate the BCP microparticles’ morphology. − By adjusting the interfacial interaction, BCP microparticles with various morphologies, including pupa-like, , convex lens-like, , Janus-like, , onion-like particles, and others, , can be obtained.…”

Direct Access to Bowl-Like Nanostructures with Block Copolymer Anisotropic Truncated Microspheres

“…In addition to fundamentals of tuning shape, interfaces and morphology of copolymer three-dimensional (3D) particles, much work has focused on using BCP 3D particles as soft templates to fabricate inorganic materials with well-defined morphologies. The achieved morphologies of inorganic materials through BCP microparticle templating are mainly related to few types of morphologies such as mesoporous microspheres − or onion-like microspheres. − Nevertheless, only little attention has been paid to other types of morphologies, for example, bowl-like nanostructures. Bowl-like nanostructures have nanosized thickness but their diameters range from tens of nanometers to micrometers.…”