Hierarchical structure formation in supramolecular comb-shaped block copolymers

Anton Hofman, Gerrit ten Brinke, Katja Loos

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

27 Citations (Scopus)
185 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Block copolymers are known to spontaneously form ordered structures at the nano-to mesoscale. Although the number of different morphologies is rather limited in diblock copolymer systems, their phase behavior becomes increasingly more complex with each additional building block. Synthesis of such all-covalent materials is, however, a very challenging task. By moving to supramolecular chemistry these preparation methods can be avoided while maintaining the same kind of macromolecular complexity. After a brief introduction, this feature article will provide a selection of the most recent work performed in the field of self-assembling supramolecular block copolymer-containing materials. By careful choice of both the copolymer and, in many cases, the small organic surface active compound, fascinating morphologies can appear in supramolecular comb-shaped block copolymers. Several examples will be discussed, while a number of functional materials (e.g. thermal, optical, electronic) originating from these type of complexes will be addressed as well.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)343-356
Number of pages14
JournalPolymer
Volume107
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 10-Aug-2016

Keywords

  • Block copolymers
  • Supramolecular complexes
  • Structure formation
  • ABC TRIBLOCK COPOLYMERS
  • POLYMER-SURFACTANT SYSTEMS
  • ORDER-DISORDER TRANSITION
  • NANOCOMPOSITE THIN-FILMS
  • HYDROGEN-BONDED POLYMER
  • PHASE-BEHAVIOR
  • DIBLOCK COPOLYMERS
  • STRONG-SEGREGATION
  • MOLECULAR-WEIGHT
  • TILING PATTERNS

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