Block Copolymer Assembly on Nanoscale Patterns of Polymer Brushes Formed by Electrohydrodynamic Jet Printing

Journal Article · Sun Jun 08 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · ACS Nano

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/nn5022605· OSTI ID:1392657

Onses, M. Serdar ^[1]; Ramírez-Hernández, Abelardo ^[2]; Hur, Su-Mi ^[2]; Sutanto, Erick ^[3]; Williamson, Lance ^[2]; Alleyne, Andrew G. ^[3]; Nealey, Paul F. ^[2]; de Pablo, Juan J. ^[2]; Rogers, John A. ^[4]

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1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Beckman Institute, and Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38039, Turkey
2. Institute for Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States; Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States
3. Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
4. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Beckman Institute, and Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States; Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States

Fundamental understanding of the self-assembly of domains in block-copolymers (BCPs) and capabilities in control of these processes are important for their use as nanoscale templates in various applications. This paper focuses on the self-assembly of spin-cast and printed poly(styrene-block-methyl methacrylate) BCPs on patterned surface wetting layers formed by electrohydrodynamic jet printing of random copolymer brushes. Here, end-grafted brushes that present groups of styrene and methyl methacrylate in geometries with nanoscale resolution deterministically define the morphologies of BCP nanostructures. The materials and methods can also be integrated with lithographically defined templates for directed self-assembly of BCPs at multiple length scales. The results provide not only engineering routes to controlled formation of complex patterns but also vehicles for experimental and simulation studies of the effects of chemical transitions on the processes of self-assembly. Importantly, we show that the methodology developed here also provides the means to explore exotic phenomena displayed by the wetting behavior of BCPs, where 3-D soft confinement, chain elasticity, interfacial energies and substrate's surface energy cooperate such that these melts are expected to exhibit non- classical wetting behavior.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science - Office of Basic Energy Sciences - Materials Sciences and Engineering Division; Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) - Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR); National Science Foundation (NSF)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-06CH11357
• OSTI ID: 1392657
• Journal Information: ACS Nano, Vol. 8, Issue 7; ISSN 1936-0851
• Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English