Article
Polymer Science
Yu-Hsuan Tseng, Yu-Liang Lin, Jhih-Hao Ho, Chun-Ting Chang, Yi-Chun Fan, Ming-Hui Shen, Jiun-Tai Chen
Summary: This study presents a clever approach to form PS-b-PEO nanorods in nanopores of AAO templates using solvent vapor annealing method, allowing for control over the internal morphologies of the nanorods by changing the annealing solvents. This technique provides a powerful tool for fabricating functional nanomaterials with unique morphologies, showing great potential for various applications.
Article
Polymer Science
Andrew Selkirk, Nadezda Prochukhan, Ross Lundy, Cian Cummins, Riley Gatensby, Rachel Kilbride, Andrew Parnell, Jhonattan Baez Vasquez, Michael Morris, Parvaneh Mokarian-Tabari
Summary: This study overcomes the kinetic challenges in the self-assembly of UHMW BCPs through precision solvent annealing, resulting in highly ordered large-period lamellar domains. The research reveals that film thickness and solvent concentration significantly affect the domain morphology.
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Kshitij Sharma, Aman Agrawal, Ali Masud, Sushil K. Satija, John F. Ankner, Jack F. Douglas, Alamgir Karim
Summary: The kinetics and morphology of block copolymer films are influenced by the processing pathway, which affects the enthalpic and entropic forces driving the ordering processes. Understanding the free energy landscape and how processing procedures can move the system through this landscape is important for controlling the variability of block copolymer morphology. The authors demonstrate a method where a target low-energy structure can be quickly achieved by subjecting as-cast films to initial solvent annealing followed by a short period of thermal annealing.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2023)
Article
Thermodynamics
Omar Taleb, Daniel C. Barzycki, Carlos Germosen Polanco, Ralm G. Ricarte, Daniel Hallinan
Summary: A numerical finite-difference model for 2D transient diffusion in lamellar structures was developed in this study, which can be applied to various transport phenomena. The model was validated by comparing it to analytical expressions. The results showed that the standard deviation of effective transport parameters decreased with decreasing grain size, and the connectivity of the more conducting phase was important only in coarse grains with significant contrast.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Xi Mao, Hao Li, Jinwoo Kim, Shuai Deng, Renhua Deng, Bumjoon J. Kim, Jintao Zhu
Summary: A solvent annealing-induced structural reengineering approach transforms polystyrene-b-poly(4-vinyl pyridine) into polymersomes, allowing for effective encapsulation/loading of cargoes such as fluorescent dyes and metal nanoparticles for various applications.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Sajan Singh, Tandra Ghoshal, Nadezda Prochukhan, Alberto Alvarez Fernandez, Jhonattan Frank Baez Vasquez, Pravind Yadav, Sibu C. Padmanabhan, Michael A. Morris
Summary: In this study, we demonstrated the formation of oxide porous and nanodot structures from the same block copolymer (BCP) through the phase inversion of a BCP template. The effect of solvent annealing time on the ordering of the BCP was investigated. Metal ions were infiltrated into the BCP templates and oxidized to their oxides. The resulting structures were analyzed through various methods, confirming the complete elimination of the BCP template and the presence of metal oxides.
ACS APPLIED POLYMER MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Polymer Science
Ling-Ying Shi, Zhixiong Fei, Qian Wang, Lin Weng, Chenxiao Yin, Jinrui Sun, Zhihao Shen
Summary: Bottlebrush block copolymers (BBCPs) are intriguing architectural polymers that can produce various anisotropic nanostructures. This study presents a method for creating ordered silicon oxide patterns and particles on substrates using solvent vapor induced thin film self-assembly of BBCPs containing polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and polystyrene (PS) side chains. Different morphologies, including cylindrical or stripes-like, spherical, and ordered porous structures, as well as Janus particle-like structures, were achieved through solvent vapor annealing. The Janus particle-like structures were further transformed into meso-to-macroporous silicon oxide bowls after oxygen plasma etching. The study also discussed the effects of solvent vapor and backbone length on the self-assembly behavior of the thin film.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Yu-Hsuan Tseng, Yi-Chun Fan, Chun-Ting Chang, Yu-Liang Lin, Chia-Wei Chang, Chih-Wei Liao, Jiun-Tai Chen
Summary: In this study, a facile strategy called photoinduced alignment under solvent vapor annealing (PA-SVA) is proposed to form well-aligned block copolymer thin films without the need for chemically or topographically prepatterned substrates. The light-assisted self-assembly of the block copolymers is achieved by incorporating light-responsive azobenzene molecules into the polymer chains. The alignment of the block copolymer chains is induced through supramolecular interactions between the azobenzene molecules and the polymer chains. This method not only allows for manipulation of the position of light-responsive molecules in block copolymer chains, but also provides an alternative way to obtain well-ordered block copolymer thin films.
ACS APPLIED POLYMER MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Polymer Science
Karthika Madathil, Banafsheh Hekmatnia, Haleh Ardebili, Gila E. Stein
Summary: This study examines the impact of solvent composition and solution-casting process on the structure and properties of a lamellar sulfonated pentablock copolymer (SPC) membrane. The results show that sequential deposition of multiple layers can predict the structure of dry films and processing conditions strongly influence through-plane transport properties. This study provides valuable insights for optimizing critical transport properties.
Article
Polymer Science
Maninderjeet Singh, Wenjie Wu, Monali N. Basutkar, Joseph Strzalka, Abdullah M. Al-Enizi, Jack F. Douglas, Alamgir Karim
Summary: The study demonstrates a rapid self-assembly technique for achieving vertical orientation of block copolymer films on unmodified substrates, leading to faster formation of ordered structures.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Chao Zheng
Summary: In this study, massive toroidal micelles were formed from styrene/methyl methacrylate gradient copolymers using a common solvent mixing method followed by a cooling-heating procedure. It was found that the obtained toroidal morphology was sensitively dependent on the heat treatment procedure. Spherical micelles could be transformed into toroidal micelles via a cooling-heating process, whereas no toroidal micelles were formed when a reverse heating-cooling process was adopted. These results contribute to the understanding of toroidal micelles and their formation pathways in gradient copolymer systems.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Runze Liu, Hejin Huang, Zehao Sun, Alfredo Alexander-Katz, Caroline A. Ross
Summary: This study presents a method of directed self-assembly using multiple mechanisms to generate well-aligned nanomesh structures, which is then extended to fabricate multi-component metallic structures with 2D/3D hybrid morphologies.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yun Dong, Zhe Ma, Dong-Po Song, Guiqiu Ma, Yuesheng Li
Summary: Photonic pigment particles with a nanoscale concentric lamellar structure of glassy-rubbery microdomains have been successfully created through confined self-assembly and photo-cross-linking strategy, showing both high durability and visible color changes. These mechanically robust pigments, obtained using specific bottlebrush block copolymer formulations, open up new possibilities for applications in various fields.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Anushree Dutta, Dyutiman Barman, Jayanta Das
Summary: Hardening was observed in Ni-Zr-Al ultrafine lamellar eutectic composite via nano-precipitation, with significant enhancement of strength upon annealing and stable lamellar morphology up to high temperatures. Addition of Al facilitates the formation of small precipitates in the matrix, leading to improved material performance.
JOURNAL OF ALLOYS AND COMPOUNDS
(2021)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Wenjie Gao, Xinpeng Wang, Junhua Gao, Lingyan Liang, Hongliang Zhang, Yunjie Luo, Hongtao Cao
Summary: This study successfully prepared PS-b-PMMA BCP nanotemplates with different morphologies and characterized their structural and optical evolution using ellipsometric measurements and component characterization. The different templates showed distinct optical behaviors, and Au-covered BCP nanotemplates exhibited morphology-dependent visible-light responses, indicating varied light-matter interactions in their plasmonic Au nanostructures.