Block Copolymer Self Assembly Directed Nanomaterials

Global problems including energy conversion and storage, clean water and human health require increasingly complex, multi-component hybrid materials with unprecedented control over composition, structure, and order down to the nanoscale. This talk will give examples for the rational design of novel functional nanomaterials directed by block copolymer self assembly. Discussion will include polymer-nanoparticle self-assembly derived synthetic porous materials with amorphous, polycrystalline, and epitaxially grown single-crystal structures as well as asymmetric membranes structures. Experiments will be compared to theoretical predictions to provide physical insights into formation principles and specific function. The aim of the described work is to understand the underlying fundamental chemical, thermodynamic and kinetic formation principles as well as nanostructure-property correlations enabling generalization of results over a wide class of materials systems. Examples will cover the formation of hierarchical structures at equilibrium as well as via processes far away from equilibrium. Targeted functions of the prepared systems will include nanostructured hybrids for energy conversion and storage devices, metamaterials with specific optical and phononic properties, as well as the formation of first self-assembled superconductors.