title: Soft-etch mesoporous hole-conducting block copolymer templates.
abstract: We present a mesoporous hole-conducting polymer film resulting from spontaneous block copolymer self-assembly based on a simple spin-coating protocol. A diblock copolymer consisting of a triphenylamine side group polymer and a poly(d,l-lactide) block (PSTPA-b-PLA) is shown to microphase separate to form ordered 13 nm cylindrical PLA microdomains embedded in the semiconducting PSTPA matrix. Partially ordered and film-spanning PLA domains could be identified in films immediately after spin coating from toluene solutions on conducting substrates. Selective mild etching of the minority PLA domains (in weak aqueous base) leads to a mesoporous hole-conducting polymer matrix. The pore structure is replicated electrochemically in platinum, demonstrating the viability of this approach to producing nano-organized heterojunction structures in thin films.
authors.affiliation: Cavendish Laboratory, J. J. Thomson Avenue, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK.
authors.forename: Edward J W
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Crossland
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cunha
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Scroggins
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moratti
authors.forename: Olena
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yurchenko
authors.forename: Ullrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Steiner
authors.forename: Marc A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Hillmyer
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ludwigs