Air–Water Interfacial Directed Self‐Assembly of Block Copolymer Nanostrand Array

Abstract

method to enlarge the grain size of nanostrands by slowing down the evaporation rate of spreading solvents. [11b] However, the enlarged grain was formed in a random direction, and thus controlling the direction of the large grain of aligned nanostrands is still in a veil. On the other hand, Park and co-workers recently reported the direction-controlling methods for the crystallization-induced ISA of rodcoil BCPs using the inclined water surface [13] or using magnetic nanoparticles with a magnetic field. [14] However, these methods are not applicable to align the nanostrands of coil-coil BCP. Despite of many research progresses, the DSA of strand-forming BCP ISA has never been investigated.In this study, we demonstrated the directed ISA of strand-forming BCPs in a more facile and fast way to produce highly aligned transferrable 2D nanopatterns in a large area. First, we investigated the mechanism of the gradual morphology transition of ISA based on the spreading area-dependent dewetting mechanism. We further found that nanostrands were highly aligned normal to the morphology transition direction, and which consequently yields a densely aligned and well-defined nanostrand array in a large area. The alignment quality of dense nanostrand array was evaluated in a macroscopic large area by both microscopy-based and scattering-based analysis. Finally, a density-doubled metal nanowire fabrication and a hierarchical BCP nanopatterning were demonstrated by using the highly aligned nanostrand array as a template.

Scaling Laws for Block Copolymer Surface Micelles

“…While the scaling relation is considered as a principle governing the structure and dynamics of polymers, the scaling relation toward the BCP surface micelles has not been realized despite three decades of research progress on the surface micelle. The absence of the scaling relation for BCP surface micelles impedes advances toward potential applications, such as biomedical applications, lithographic masks, templates for nanomaterials, − functional polymer brushes, and modifiers for interfacial energy. , Therefore, it is urgent to establish a scaling relation for BCP surface micelles.…”