Block-copolymer-mediated nanoparticle dispersion and assembly in polymer nanocomposites.
A individual nanoparticle (NP) dispersion in polymer nanocomposites has been obtained through the adsorption of PSbP2VP block copolymer (BCP) at the NPs' surface in solution. The adsorbed block increases the minimum inter-NP distance, while the non-adsorbed block has favourable entropy of mixing with the matrix polymer with the same chemical structure. Physical adsorption of BCP provides a simple, robust means of organizing NPs in a chemically unfavourable polymer.
Department of Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, 500 W. 120th St, New York, NY, 10027, USA.
Nicolas
N
Jouault
Danmi
D
Lee
Dan
D
Zhao
Sanat K
SK
Kumar
block copolymer; nanocomposite; self-assembly