Effect of CdSe nanoparticle addition on nanostructuring of PS-b-P4VP copolymer via solvent vapor exposure

• We nanostructure PS-b-P4VP block copolymer by solvent vapor annealing.
• Addition of CdSe nanoparticles to copolymer changes the obtained morphologies.
• Interactions between nanoparticles and P4VP were confirmed by FTIR.

The surface morphology of poly(styrene-b-4 vinyl pyridine) (PS-b-P4VP) diblock copolymer thin films after solvent vapor annealing has been studied. Morphological features can be switched upon exposure to vapors of a solvent selective for one of the blocks. Self-assembled nanostructures such as hexagonal or striped morphologies were obtained varying vapor exposure time. In addition, the effect of the presence of CdSe nanoparticles located in the P4VP block on obtained nanostructures was analyzed. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used for morphological characterization of the block copolymer and the nanocomposites. AFM images showed that nanostructuring was different depending on the amount of CdSe nanoparticles, due to the decrease in P4VP chain mobility.

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