Bicontinuous Ceramics with High Surface Area from Block Copolymer Templates

Abstract

Mesoporous polymers with gyroid nanochannels can be fabricated from the self-assembly of degradable block copolymer, polystyrene-b-poly(L-lactide) (PS-PLLA), followed by hydrolysis of PLLA block. Well-defined polymer/ceramic nanohybrid materials with inorganic gyroid nanostructures in a PS matrix can be obtained by using the mesoporous PS as a template for sol-gel reaction. Titanium tetraisopropoxide (TTIP) is used as a precursor to give a model system for the fabrication of metal oxide nanostructures from reactive transition metal alkoxides. By controlling the rates of capillary-driven pore filling and sol-gel reaction, the templated synthesis can be well-developed. Also, by taking advantage of calcination, bicontinuous TiO(2) with controlled crystalline phase (i.e., anatase phase) can be fabricated after removal of the PS template and crystallization of TiO(2) by calcination leading to high photocatalytic efficiency. This new approach provides an easy way to fabricate high-surface-area and high-porosity ceramics with self-supporting structure and controlled crystalline phase for practical applications. As a result, a platform technology to fabricate precisely controlled polymer/ceramic nanohybrids and mesoporous ceramic materials can be established.

Hexagonally Perforated Layer Morphology in PS-b-P4VP(PDP) Supramolecules

“…A set of gyroid samples with tailored feature sizes was obtained in the composition range 0.59 < f P4VP(PDP) x < 0.65 and they could be exploited in a number of practical applications. [5][6][7]36,37 In the present study, we are focusing on the PS-b-P4VP(PDP) x phase behavior in the region between the CYL and LAM phase at the other side of the phase diagram in which PS represents the majority rather than the minority component. Our initial motivation was to find the gyroid morphology with P4VP(PDP) x being the minority network component.…”

Nanoporous gyroid platinum with high catalytic activity from block copolymer templates via electroless plating

“…Because of the high porosity and large surface area, nanoporous polymer materials can be used as templates for templated synthesis. By exploiting the templating process (that is, nanoreactor concept), certain reactions, such as electroless plating, [45][46][47] electrochemical deposition [48][49][50] and the sol-gel process, 51,52 can be performed within the BCP templates for the manufacture of nanohybrids because of the freestanding characteristic of the gyroid networks. After removal of the template, nanoporous gyroid materials can be fabricated with a well-defined texture, which is promising for applications such as ceramic membranes, [53][54][55] hybrid solar cells, 45 membrane reactors 56,57 and low refractive index materials.…”

“…After removal of the template, nanoporous gyroid materials can be fabricated with a well-defined texture, which is promising for applications such as ceramic membranes, [53][54][55] hybrid solar cells, 45 membrane reactors 56,57 and low refractive index materials. 51,52 In this study, we propose a new approach for the fabrication of nanoporous Pt with a well-defined texture (that is, gyroid-forming nanostructure) using hydrolyzed PS-PLLA (that is, nanoporous PS) as a template for the electroless plating of Pt. A modified electroless plating of Pt is performed to fabricate well-ordered PS/Pt nanohybrids.…”

Gyroid Nickel Nanostructures from Diblock Copolymer Supramolecules

“…Metal oxides (e.g. SiO 2 , TiO 2 ) are usually introduced via sol-gel method into the template's channels [27][28][29] . Electrochemical and electroless plating are commonly used to deposit metal into or onto templates [30][31][32][33] .…”

“…Electrochemical and electroless plating are commonly used to deposit metal into or onto templates [30][31][32][33] . Finally, the remaining polymer can be removed from the polymer/inorganic nanohybrid via pyrolysis 2 , dissolution 34,35 , UV degradation 28,29 , etc.…”