Poly(cyclohexylethylene)-<i>block</i>-poly(ethylene\noxide) Block Polymers for Metal Oxide Templating

Abstract

A series\nof poly­(cyclohexylethylene)-<i>block</i>-poly­(ethylene\noxide) (CEO) diblock copolymers were synthesized through tandem anionic\npolymerizations and heterogeneous catalytic hydrogenation. Solvent-annealed\nCEO diblock films were used to template dense arrays of inorganic\noxide nanodots via simple spin coating of an inorganic precursor solution\natop the ordered film. The substantial chemical dissimilarity of the\ntwo blocks enables (i) selective inclusion of the inorganic precursor\nwithin the PEO domain and (ii) the formation of exceptionally small\nfeature sizes due to a relatively large interaction parameter estimated\nfrom mean-field analysis of the order–disorder transition temperatures\nof compositionally symmetric samples. UV/ozone treatment following\nincorporation produces an ordered arrangement of oxide nanodots and\nsimultaneously removes the block polymer template. Herein, we report\nthe smallest particles (6 ± 1 nm) templated from a selective\nprecursor insertion method to date using a block polymer scaffold.