Controlling materials architecture on the nanometer-scale: PPV nanocomposites via polymerizable lyotropic liquid crystals[Poly(p-phenylenevinylene)]
The authors have developed a general strategy for the construction of ordered nanocomposites with hexagonal symmetry, using polymerizable lyotropic (i.e., amphiphilic) liquid crystals. In this approach, self-organizing lyotropic liquid-crystalline monomers are used to form an ordered template matrix in the presence of a reactive hydrophilic solution. Subsequent photopolymerization to lock-in the matrix architecture, followed by initiation of chemistry within the ordered hydrophilic domains to afford solid-state fillers, yields the anisotropic nanocomposites. Composites have been synthesized that have a regular hexagonal arrangement of extended poly(p-phenylenevinylene) (PPV) domains, with a regular interchannel spacing of 4 nm. The photoluminescence of these materials is significantly altered from that of bulk PPV. The dimensions of these nanocomposites can be tuned by varying the size of the hydrophobic tails and/or the nature of the counterion associated with the hydrophilic headgroup of the monomer.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- Office of Naval Research; National Science Foundation
- OSTI ID:
- 20034110
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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