Monomolecular films of arborescent polystyrene–graft–poly(2-vinylpyridine) copolymers: Precursors to nanostructured carbon materials

Abstract

An arborescent polystyrene (PS)graftpoly(2-vinylpyridine) (P2VP) copolymer of overall generation number G2, consisting of side chains with Mn ~5000, served as template for the preparation of nanostructured carbon films. Spin casting of arborescent PSgraftP2VP copolymers yielded monomolecular films of uniform thickness. The uniformity of the copolymer films was influenced by the casting solvent selected. Methanol solutions of the copolymers led to non-uniform layers consisting of large aggregates and voids.Homogeneous monolayer films were attained from copolymer solutions in tetrahydrofuran, which is a good solvent for both the PS and P2VP components. The copolymer molecules in the film were strongly flattened by adsorption forces, but recovered a spherical geometry after annealing in water. The water-annealed films could be directly converted into their analogous carbon films having nanodots on the surface by UV irradiation with concurrent pyrolysis. The