Hierarchical nanostructure control of nanohybrid materials based on electroactive rod-coil block copolymers and inorganic nanoparticles

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Sabine Ludwigs
• Subject Area: Preparatory and Physical Chemistry of Polymers
• Term: from 2008 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 86566378

The subject of this proposal is the structure control of nanohybrid materials based on electroactive rod-coil block copolymers and inorganic nanoparticles via a hierarchical approach. - On the molecular scale, novel block copolymer systems will be synthesized which bear one functional electroactive block and one non-conducting structure-directing coil block. The coil block will allow further modification with polymer analogous reactions: Selective degradation will lead to nanoporous templates which can be further filled with inorganic materials. Surface-functionalized size- and shape-tuned nanoparticles will be prepared which are compatible with the sacrificial block phase of the block copolymers. The structure-directing block can also be directly used as nanoreactor for the synthesis of nanoparticles. - On the mesoscopic scale the phase behaviour of the rod-coil block copolymers and their blends with nanoparticles will be studied both in bulk and in thin films. One main aim of the proposal is to manipulate the resulting nanomorphology in such a way that it becomes useful for applications in printed electronics, e.g. for organic solar cell applications. - The combination of the bottom-up self-assembly approach with top-down techniques, such as graphoepitaxy, will be further applied to hierarchically control the nanostructures and to induce long-range order. At the last stage of the proposal first attempts to the fabrication of real devices will be explored.

• DFG Programme: Independent Junior Research Groups