Double‐Gyroid Morphology of a Polystyrene‐block‐Poly(ferrocenylethylmethylsilane) Diblock Copolymer: A Route to Ordered Bicontinuous Nanoscale Architectures
1. School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TS, United Kingdom;2. Department of Chemistry, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, Berkshire, RG6 6AD, United Kingdom
Abstract:
A polystyrene‐block‐poly(ferrocenylethylmethylsilane) diblock copolymer, displaying a double‐gyroid morphology when self‐assembled in the solid state, has been prepared with a PFEMS volume fraction ?PFEMS = 0.39 and a total molecular weight of 64 000 Da by sequential living anionic polymerisation. A block copolymer with a metal‐containing block with iron and silicon in the main chain was selected due to its plasma etch resistance compared to the organic block. Self‐assembly of the diblock copolymer in the bulk showed a stable, double‐gyroid morphology as characterised by TEM. SAXS confirmed that the structure belonged to the Iad space group.