Block Copolymer Nano-Objects

Dear Colleagues,

The scope of possible applications for block copolymers is rapidly expanding, with multidisciplinary contributions involving the fields of chemistry, physics, and materials science, as well as biological and medical sciences. The self-assembly of block copolymers (BCPs) can lead to various nanoscopic structures of dimensions ranging from 10–100 nm depending on the composition and chain architecture in bulk and thin-film form. A detailed scientific and technical understanding is essential for self-assembly or microphase separation of block-copolymers, describing the thermodynamics of the process, the type of structures formed, the formation of regular thin films, and how the structures might be directed to define precise microdomain location, orientation and alignment, and the elimination of various defects during the process. These properties enable BCPs to be used as a general route for patterning a variety of materials into periodic structures. A variety of bottom-up and top-down (etch) approaches can be followed to achieve different kinds of nanomaterials ranging from metals, semiconductors, inorganics, composites, etc. with different periodic architectures. This issue will be focussed on experimental and theoretical aspects of the processing steps to fabricate different nanostructures using BCPs, studying their properties and applications.

Dr. Tandra Ghoshal
Guest Editor

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