(513b) Collective Osmotic Shock (COS) a New Way to Create Polymeric Templates for Inorganic Nanomaterials

Paul Zavala-Rivera^a,

Sanna K.  Nataraj^a,c`, Shaheen A.  Al-Muhtaseb^c, Easan Sivaniah^a,*

^aCavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, U.K.

^c Department of Chemical Engineering, Qatar University, P.O.  Box 2713 , Doha, Qatar

Collective Osmotic Shock (COS)¹ is a phenomenon responsible for generating template structures that could lead to the development of new materials and their applications in polymer technology. This process consists of creating bicontinuous polymeric membranes from block copolymers (BCP) such as PS-b-PMMA (polystyrene-b-polymethyl methacrylate). To produce the COS effect, self-assemble spherical micellar BCPs nanostructures are treated with UV under air, inducing the cross-linking of the PS block and the degradation of the PMMA part. The final stage consists of treatment of the membrane with a specific solvent that dissolves the minor block and diffuses through the mayor matrix. The dissolution of the degrade PMMA micelles induces an osmotically derived mechanical stress strong enough to deform and evacuate the nanostructures leading to the formation of mesoporous and macro-mesoporous layered architectures. This process is robust in creating bicontinuous polymeric nanostructures. These self-assembled nanostructures are used as templates for creating inorganic matrices with promising applications in optoelectronics, nanophotonics, energy production and storage devices. This is demonstrated with transformation of the COS scaffolds using sol-gel, electrochemistry and biomimetic deposition of various oxides and carbonates.

[1] Zavala-Rivera, P., Channon, K., Nguyen, V., Sivaniah, E., Kabra, D., Friend, R.H., Nataraj, S.K., Al-muhtaseb S.A., Hexemer, A., Calvo, M.E., Miguez, H., 2012. Collective osmotic shock in ordered materials. Nature Materials, 2012, 11(1), pp 53.