Patchy Nanofibers from the Thin Film Self‐Assembly of a Conjugated Diblock Copolymer. (16th February 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kynaston, Emily L.; Fang, Yuan; Manion, Joseph G.; Obhi, Nimrat K.; Howe, Jane Y.; Perepichka, Dmitrii F.; Seferos, Dwight S.
• Is Part Of: Angewandte Chemie. Volume 129:Number 22(2017)
• Page Start: 6248
• Page End: 6252
• Publication Date: 2017-02-16
• Subjects: Blockcopolymere -- Dünne Filme -- Leitfähige Materialien -- Nanostrukturen -- Selbstorganisation; Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540
• DOI: 10.1002/ange.201700134
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0044-8249

Abstract

Abstract: An unexpected morphology comprising patchy nanofibers can be accessed from the self‐assembly of an all‐conjugated, polyselenophene‐ block ‐polythiophene copolymer. This morphology consists of very small (<10 nm), polythiophene‐ and polyselenophene‐rich domains and is unprecedented for both conjugated polymers and diblock copolymers in general. We propose that the patchy morphology occurs from the enhanced miscibility of the blocks arising from the longer alkyl chains in comparison to similar block copolymers with shorter alkyl chains, which fully phase separate, as well as the difference in rigidity between the polythiophene and polyselenophene blocks. This work demonstrates a facile way to tune the self‐assembly behavior of conjugated block copolymers by modification of the side chain substituents.