X-ray scattering study of thermal nanopore templating in hybrid films of organosilicate precursor and reactive four-armed porogen.
The miscibility and the mechanism for thermal nanopore templating in films prepared from spin-coating and subsequent drying of homogenous solutions of curable polymethylsilsesquioxane dielectric precursor and thermally labile, reactive triethoxysilyl-terminated four-armed poly(epsilon-caprolactone) porogen were investigated in detail by in situ two-dimensional grazing incidence small-angle x-ray scattering analysis. The dielectric precursor and porogen components in the film were fully miscible. On heating, limited aggregations of the porogen, however, took place in only a small temperature range of 100-140 degrees C as a result of phase separation induced by the competition of the curing and hybridization reactions of the dielectric precursor and porogen; higher porogen loading resulted in relatively large porogen aggregates and a greater size distribution. The developed porogen aggregates underwent thermal firing above 300 degrees C without further growth and movement, and ultimately left their individual footprints in the film as spherical nanopores.
Yoon
Jinhwan
J
Department of Chemistry, National Research Lab for Polymer Synthesis and Physics, Pohang Accelerator Laboratory, Center for Integrated Molecular Systems, Polymer Research Institute, and BK School of Molecular Science, Pohang University of Science and Technology (Postech), Pohang 790-784, Republic of Korea.
Heo
Kyuyoung
K
Oh
Weontae
W
Jin
Kyeong Sik
KS
Jin
Sangwoo
S
Kim
Jehan
J
Kim
Kwang-Woo
KW
Chang
Taihyun
T
Ree
Moonhor
M