la6b02396_si_001.pdf (7.11 MB)
Fabrication of Two-Dimensional Arrays of Diameter-Tunable PS‑b‑P2VP Nanowires at the Air/Water Interface
journal contribution
posted on 2016-10-26, 00:00 authored by Xingjuan Zhao, Xiaoli Yu, Yong-Ill Lee, Hong-Guo LiuComposite thin films
with well-defined and parallel nanowires were
fabricated from the binary blends of a diblock copolymer polystyrene-block-poly(2-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P2VP)
and several homopolystyrenes (h-PSs) at the air/liquid interface through a facile technique,
which involves solution self-assembly, interface adsorption, and further
self-organization processes. It was confirmed that the nanowires that
appeared at the air/water interface came from the cylindrical micelles
formed in solution. Interestingly, the diameters of the nanowires
are uniform and can be tuned precisely from 45 to 247 nm by incorporating
the h-PS molecules into the micellar core. This parallel alignment
of the nanowires has potential applications in optical devices and
enables the nanowires to be used as templates to prepare functional
nanostructures. The extent to which h-PS molecules with different
molecular weights are able to influence the diameter control of the
nanowires was also systematically investigated.