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Patchy Nanofibers from the Thin Film Self‐Assembly of a Conjugated Diblock Copolymer
Author(s) -
Kynaston Emily L.,
Fang Yuan,
Manion Joseph G.,
Obhi Nimrat K.,
Howe Jane Y.,
Perepichka Dmitrii F.,
Seferos Dwight S.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201700134
Subject(s) - polythiophene , copolymer , conjugated system , materials science , polymer chemistry , alkyl , self assembly , side chain , miscibility , polymer , morphology (biology) , nanofiber , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , conductive polymer , chemistry , organic chemistry , composite material , biology , engineering , genetics
An unexpected morphology comprising patchy nanofibers can be accessed from the self‐assembly of an all‐conjugated, polyselenophene‐ block ‐polythiophene copolymer. This morphology consists of very small (<10 nm), polythiophene‐ and polyselenophene‐rich domains and is unprecedented for both conjugated polymers and diblock copolymers in general. We propose that the patchy morphology occurs from the enhanced miscibility of the blocks arising from the longer alkyl chains in comparison to similar block copolymers with shorter alkyl chains, which fully phase separate, as well as the difference in rigidity between the polythiophene and polyselenophene blocks. This work demonstrates a facile way to tune the self‐assembly behavior of conjugated block copolymers by modification of the side chain substituents.