Abstract
We present an extremely versatile method for the lateral organization of nano-scale objects (NOs) based on the phenomenon of polymer demixing. NOs are suspended in a solution of two immiscible polymers, which is used to form a thin polymer film by spin coating. During spin coating the two polymers separate to give a microphase structure, whose length scale depends on the experimental conditions. The NOs spontaneously partition into one or other of the polymer phases resulting in their lateral organization. In this work, the organization of CdSe nanoparticles and fluorescent organic dyes was studied by fluorescence microscopy. The NOs were organized in the polymer film in stochastic patterns or in ordered designs on substrates pre-patterned by soft-lithography techniques. Single-particle measurements, using confocal microscopy, showed that at low concentrations there was little aggregation of the particles.
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We thank the Swiss National Research Program 47: Supramolecular Functional Materials and the European Project Polynano for their financial support for this work.
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Minelli, C., Geissbuehler, I., Eckert, R. et al. Organization of nanoscale objects via polymer demixing. Colloid Polym Sci 282, 1274–1278 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-004-1070-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-004-1070-y