Nanostructured Colloidal Particles by Confined Self-Assembly of Block Copolymers in Evaporative Droplets

Abstract

Block copolymers (BCPs) can create various morphology by self-assembly in bulk or film. Recently, using BCPs in confined geometries such as thin film (one-dimension), cylindrical template (two-dimension), or emulsion droplet (three-dimension), nanostructured BCP particles have been prepared, in which unique nanostructures of the BCP are formed via solvent annealing process and can be controlled depending on molecular weight ratio and interaction parameter of the BCPs, and droplet size. Moreover, by tuning interfacial property of the BCP particles, anisotropic particles with unique nanostructures have been prepared. Furthermore, for practical application such as drug delivery system, sensor, self-healing, metamaterial, and optoelectronic device, functional nanoparticles can be incorporated inside BCP particles. In this article, we summarize recent progress on the production of structured BCP particles and composite particles with metallic nanoparticles.

100th Anniversary of Macromolecular Science Viewpoint: Block Copolymer Particles: Tuning Shape, Interfaces, and Morphology

“…Readers are also directed to more extensive reviews on the broader aspects of BCP-based particles. [30][31][32][33][34][35][36]42 A discussion on the assembly of BCPs into sub-100 nm micellar structures is not within the scope of this Viewpoint, and the readers are referred to the relevant reviews. 43−45 Background and Theory: The deformability of the interface is a crucial factor in terms of shape-tuning by self-assembly of BCPs in 3D confinement and is highly dependent on the method employed for confinement.…”

A wide-angle shift-free metamaterial filter design for anti-laser striking application

“…The unique ability of BCPs stems from the tendency to assemble discrete ordered morphologies at equilibrium over a large area [47]. Utilising the ability of the BCP to achieve spot feature dimensions of sub 10 nm [48][49][50] with a continuously uniform natural period separation could be a progressive move in the fabrication of the described laser protection design. The fabrication process can be enabled with material systems that include PS-b-PMMA, which can exhibit a high-order natural spacing length of 10 nm to 200 nm depending on the annealing process [51].…”

Comparative Study of Poly(4-vinylpyridine) and Polylactic Acid-block-poly (2-vinylpyridine) Nanocomposites on Structural, Morphological and Electrochemical Properties

“…Normally, metal nanoparticles/polymer nanocomposites can be synthesized through ex-situ and in-situ approaches. In the ex-situ approach, metal nanoparticles are first produced by soft-chemistry routes and then dispersed into polymeric matrices, while for in-situ approach, metal nanoparticles are generated inside a polymer matrix through chemical reduction of a metallic precursor dissolved into the polymer (Kim & Yi 2015;Sarkar et al 2012).…”