The exquisite nanostructure control of block copolymers covers a wide range of different morphologies having 0D-3D continuity. There is much promise with the recent development of optical metamaterials from block copolymers with chiral morphologies, yet the predictable control of nanoscale chirality in 3D morphologies has remained largely elusive. Others have recently demonstrated precise control over 1D-continous helical morphologies by employing a unique chiral-crystallization phenomena with enantiopure poly(lactide)s. Here we probe how this additional energetic parameter can be applied to new systems with addition constraints. We have prepared a range of poly(hexyl acrylate-b-styrene-b-L-lactide)s (HSL) as model ABC triblock terpolymer systems where the enantiopure poly(L-lactide) has a tunable crystalline character. We explore how new parameters including the degree of crystallinity and crystallite size balance with the typical enthalpic and entropic processes governing polymer self-assembly. The insights provide a new degree of control over the chirality transfer from the molecular backbone to the nanoscale morphology. We anticipate that further studies will enable the extension of these concepts to the facile fabrication of a range of advanced chiral nanomaterial based devices.

Molecule to morphology chirality-transfer in ABC triblock terpolymers

249th National Meeting (2015)

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