Abstract
In this chapter, progress is reported over a period of 10-15 years in the area of block copolymer-inorganic nanostructured hybrids from research of the Wiesner group at Cornell University. After introducing the current understanding of diblock copolymer self-assembly, their use as structure-directing agents for amorphous and crystalline inorganic sol nanoparticles (NPs) into nanostructured hybrids is discussed. Examples include silica-type materials, transition metal oxides, as well as metals. In each section, understanding of the materials synthesis parameters that govern ordered nanostructure formation is detailed to provide a general understanding as well as guiding principles for other experimental systems. As a potential application for block copolymer-directed nanostructured inorganic materials, the preparation of solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells with co-continuous cubic morphology (double gyroid) is discussed. Finally, future experimental trends and the need for accelerated development of predictive theory are outlined. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Polymer Science: A Comprehensive Reference |
| Publisher | Elsevier |
| Pages | 129-140 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780080878621 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2012 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2021-07-01Acknowledgements: This chapter is mostly based on research performed in the Materials Science and Engineering Department of Cornell University over a period of about 10 years. It gives me great pleasure to thank all of my students, colleagues and co-workers who have contributed to the work. UW would like to particularly thank the National Science Foundation, which through funding by the Division of Materials Research (DMR) has enabled continuous progress in the Wiesner group at Cornell over the years on block copolymer-based hybrid research. The energy conversion and storage-related work was further supported by the Cornell Fuel Cell Institute (CFCI) and the Energy Materials Center at Cornell (EMC2) an Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) funded by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Award Number DE-SC0001086, as well as by the KAUST-CU center at Cornell. Special thanks go to Rachel Dorin for carefully reading the chapter.
This publication acknowledges KAUST support, but has no KAUST affiliated authors.