Self-assembly of block copolymers (BCPs) drives structure formation on the nanometer length scale in the bulk state or in selective solvents and it is a promising way for the preparation of tailor-made materials. Moreover, such BCPs can consist of stimuli responsive polymers that are addressable by external triggers like pH, light, redox reagents or electrical field yielding in novel smart materials. The presentation will focus on sequential and one-pot anionic polymerization of ultra-high molecular weight BCPs that combine elastomeric and hard materials. Furthermore, the structure formation in the bulk state and in selective solvents is shown. Some recent examples for the fabrication of photonic materials in the bulk state featuring excellent structural colors will be given. Additionally the functionalization of polystyrene-block-polyisoprene (PS-b-PI) with stimuli-responsive moieties via postmodification will be highlighted and discussed in more detail. By taking advantage of the sidechains of PI the 1,2-moieties can be selectively hydrosilylated with chlorosilanes followed by anionic grafting-to of active polyvinylferrocene (PVFc) or poly-2-vinylpyridine (P2VP) chains yielding redox or pH responsive grafted BCPs. As shown in Figure 1 this strategy reveals adjustable nanostructures, starting from the lamella morphology of PS-b-PI leading to PS spheres with different domain spacing in the case of P2VP or yielding PI lamellae incorporated with PVFc spheres. The combination of the herein presented preparation strategies will pave the way for photonic applications and optical sensing in the future.

Structure formation of block copolymer based photonic materials and functionalization strategies

255th National Meeting (2018)

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