scholarly journals Fractionation of block copolymers for pore size control and reduced dispersity in mesoporous inorganic thin films

Nanoscale ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (35) ◽  
pp. 18455-18462
Author(s):  
Alberto Alvarez-Fernandez ◽  
Barry Reid ◽  
Jugal Suthar ◽  
Swan Yia Choy ◽  
Maximiliano Jara Fornerod ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Block Copolymers ◽  
Pore Size ◽  
Size Control ◽  
Widespread Application ◽  
Inorganic Thin Films ◽  
Pore Size Control

Inorganic mesoporous coatings find widespread application. In many cases, control over the pore dimensions is of paramount importance. To this end, we establish a powerful route to pore size and dispersity control.

scholarly journals Fractionation of Block Copolymers for Pore Size Control and Reduced Dispersity in Mesoporous Inorganic Thin Films

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Alvarez Fernandez ◽  
Barry Reid ◽  
Jugal Suthar ◽  
Swan Choy ◽  
Maximiliano Jesus Jara Fornerod ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Molecular Weight ◽  
Pore Size ◽  
Protective Coatings ◽  
Size Control ◽  
Size Exclusion ◽  
Porous Network ◽  
Chromatographic Fractionation ◽  
Inorganic Thin Films ◽  
Pore Size Control

Mesoporous inorganic thin films are promising materials architectures for a variety of applications, including sensing, catalysis, protective coatings, energy generation and storage. In many cases, precise control over a bicontinuous porous network on the 10-nm length scale is crucial for their operation. A particularly promising route for structure formation utilizes block copolymer (BCP) micelles in solution as sacrificial structure-directing agents for the co-assembly of inorganic precursors. This method offers pore size control via the molecular weight of the pore forming block and is compatible with broad materials library. On the other hand, the molecular weight dependence impedes continuous pore tuning and the intrinsic polymer dispersity presents challenges to the pore size homogeneity. To this end, we demonstrate how chromatographic fractionation of BCPs provides a powerful method to control the pore size and dispersity of the resulting mesoporous thin films. We apply a semi-preparative size exclusion chromatographic fractionation to a polydisperse poly(isobutylene)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (PIB-b-PEO) BCP obtained from scaled-up synthesis. The isolation of BCP fractions with distinct molecular weight and narrowed dispersity allowed us to not only tune the characteristic pore size from 9.1±1.5 to 14.1±2.1 nm with the identical BCP source material, but also significantly reduce the pore size dispersity compared to the non-fractionated BCP. Our findings offer a route to obtain a library of monodisperse BCPs from a polydisperse feedstock and provide important insights on the direct relationship between macromolecular characteristics and the resulting structure-directed mesopores, in particular related to dispersity.

scholarly journals Fractionation of Block Copolymers for Pore Size Control and Reduced Dispersity in Mesoporous Inorganic Thin Films

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Alvarez Fernandez ◽  
Barry Reid ◽  
Jugal Suthar ◽  
Swan Choy ◽  
Maximiliano Jesus Jara Fornerod ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thin Films ◽  
Molecular Weight ◽  
Pore Size ◽  
Protective Coatings ◽  
Size Control ◽  
Size Exclusion ◽  
Porous Network ◽  
Chromatographic Fractionation ◽  
Inorganic Thin Films ◽  
Pore Size Control

Mesoporous inorganic thin films are promising materials architectures for a variety of applications, including sensing, catalysis, protective coatings, energy generation and storage. In many cases, precise control over a bicontinuous porous network on the 10-nm length scale is crucial for their operation. A particularly promising route for structure formation utilizes block copolymer (BCP) micelles in solution as sacrificial structure-directing agents for the co-assembly of inorganic precursors. This method offers pore size control via the molecular weight of the pore forming block and is compatible with broad materials library. On the other hand, the molecular weight dependence impedes continuous pore tuning and the intrinsic polymer dispersity presents challenges to the pore size homogeneity. To this end, we demonstrate how chromatographic fractionation of BCPs provides a powerful method to control the pore size and dispersity of the resulting mesoporous thin films. We apply a semi-preparative size exclusion chromatographic fractionation to a polydisperse poly(isobutylene)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (PIB-b-PEO) BCP obtained from scaled-up synthesis. The isolation of BCP fractions with distinct molecular weight and narrowed dispersity allowed us to not only tune the characteristic pore size from 9.1±1.5 to 14.1±2.1 nm with the identical BCP source material, but also significantly reduce the pore size dispersity compared to the non-fractionated BCP. Our findings offer a route to obtain a library of monodisperse BCPs from a polydisperse feedstock and provide important insights on the direct relationship between macromolecular characteristics and the resulting structure-directed mesopores, in particular related to dispersity.

scholarly journals Pore Size Control of Ultrathin Silicon Membranes by Rapid Thermal Carbonization

Nano Letters ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 3904-3908 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Z. Fang ◽  
Christopher C. Striemer ◽  
Thomas R. Gaborski ◽  
James L. McGrath ◽  
Philippe M. Fauchet
Keyword(s):  
Pore Size ◽  
Size Control ◽  
Silicon Membranes ◽  
Pore Size Control

Pore size control of polymer-derived carbon adsorbent and its application for dye removal

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. 4631-4636 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Ariyanto ◽  
M. Kurniasari ◽  
W. T. Laksmana ◽  
Rochmadi ◽  
I. Prasetyo
Keyword(s):  
Pore Size ◽  
Dye Removal ◽  
Size Control ◽  
Carbon Adsorbent ◽  
Pore Size Control

Rapid fabrication of solid-state nanopores with high reproducibility over a large area using a helium ion microscope

Nanoscale ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 5198-5204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deying Xia ◽  
Chuong Huynh ◽  
Shawn McVey ◽  
Aaron Kobler ◽  
Lewis Stern ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solid State ◽  
Pore Size ◽  
Size Control ◽  
Large Area ◽  
High Reproducibility ◽  
Biomolecule Detection ◽  
Rapid Fabrication ◽  
Helium Ion ◽  
Wafer Size ◽  
Pore Size Control

The practical issues (reproducibility, time and pore size control) for massive fabrication of nanopores over a wafer size of several inches for biomolecule detection are addressed here.

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