Hairy polymer nanofibers via self-assembly of block copolymers

Abstract

We demonstrate a simple approach to prepare hairy polymer nanorods/nanofibres by exploiting the self-assembly behavior of block copolymers. The hairy nanofibres were prepared from an asymmetric polystyrene-block-poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P4VP) block copolymer whose self-assembled morphology consisted of PS cylinders dispersed in P4VP matrix. The dissolution of the block copolymer in a P4VP selective solvent resulted in the isolation of individual PS cylinders wrapped with a shell consisting of covalently bound P4VP chains. The diameter of these hairy nanofibres was $80 nm, whereas the length was in the range of several hundred nanometers. We further show that such hairy nanofibres provide interesting possibilities for doing further chemistry on their surface. This, in principle, allows one to prepare a range of functional hybrid organic/inorganic nanofibres of diameter less than 100 nm using the hairy polymer nanofibres as template. The organic fraction of the nanofibres can then be further removed by thermal treatment to produce pure inorganic nano-objects.

Fabrication of titania nanostructures using core–shell polymer nanofibers from block copolymers as templates

“…The actual morphology for the PS(18500)-b-P4VP(40500) block copolymer, which was mostly used in this work, was confirmed using small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and TEM measurements (details in supporting information). The cylindrical domains were subsequently isolated in ethanol as nanofibers on which further sol-gel synthesis of titania shell was done using TTIP as the precursor [23,24]. Fig.…”

“…The important prerequisites here are sufficiently high χN value and strong solvent selectivity towards one of the block. Recently, we have shown that in the case of polystyrene-blockpoly(4-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P4VP), the core-shell type of hairy nanofibers with PS core and hairy P4VP shell could be easily isolated in a solvent selective for P4VP block and without any additional cross-linking step [23,24]. These nanofibers potentially could be functionalized with a range of functional materials driven by the chemically active nature of the P4VP shell.…”

In Situ Generation of Cellulose Nanocrystals in Polycaprolactone Nanofibers: Effects on Crystallinity, Mechanical Strength, Biocompatibility, and Biomimetic Mineralization

“…[1][2][3][4] Various techniques such as self-assembly, 5 phase separation, 6 drawing, 7 melt bowling, 8 electrospinning, 9 and template-directed synthesis 10 allow for the creation of polymer nanofibrous membranes. Among them, electrospinning has emerged as an attractive nanotechnology for the production of nanofibers for biomimetic tissue scaffolding.…”

Helical Packing of Nanoparticles Confined in Cylindrical Domains of a Self‐Assembled Block Copolymer Structure

“…The details of the procedure have been reported in our previous work. [5] Figure 3 shows the TEM image of an isolated single NF with AgNPs incorporated within PS core and the shell composed of collapsed P4VP chains.…”