8th Liquid Matter Conference September 6-10, 2011 Wien, Austria ...

Fri 911:10-14:00P3.25Liquid crystalline behaviour of cylindrical blockcopolymer micellesAlexander Robertson, 1 Joe Gilroy, 1 Paul Rupar, 1 Laura Senior, 1 RobertRichardson, 1 and Ian Manners 11 University of Bristol, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol BS8 1TS, Bristol,United KingdomAmorphous block copolymers in a selective solvent can self-assemble into a variety of morphologies,with potential applications in areas such as drug delivery and nanolithography [1]. Morecomplicated morphologies can be accessed through the use of additional driving forces. The use ofa semi-crystalline organometallic poly(ferrocenylsilane) block has allowed the synthesis of blockcopolymer micelles with an insoluble crystalline core and a solvent-swollen corona in a varietyof morphologies, dependent on block ratios and solvent properties [2]. Of particular interest arecylindrical PFS-based block copolymer micelles. These can be grown by a seeded-nucleationprocess which yields monodisperse rod-like cylinders with a core diameter of roughly 10 nm, andprecise length control up to several microns [3]. These micelles have previously been shown toexhibit field responsive nematic-like ordering in sufficient concentrations [4]. In this work, theconditions required for liquid crystalline ordering of these micelles are investigated further, andthe nature of the inter-particle interaction is explored.[1] Hamley, I. W. , ”Nanotechnology with Soft Materials”, 2003, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 42, 1692-1712.[2] Gadt, T. , Ieong, N. S. , Cambridge, G. , Winnik, M. A. , Manners, I. , ”Complex andhierarchical micelle architectures from diblock copolyers using living, crystallization-drivenpolymerizations”, 2009, Nat. Mat. , 8, 144-150.[3] Wang, X-S. , Guerin, G. , Wang, H. , Wang, Y. , Manners, I. , Winnik, M. A. , ”CylindricalBlock Copolymer Micelles and Co-Micelles of Controlled Length and Architecture”, 2007,Science, 317, 644-647.[4] Gilroy, J. B. , Gadt, T. , Whittell, G. R. , Chabanne, L. , Mitchels, J. M. , Richardson, R. M. ,Winnik, M. A. , Manners, I. , ”Monodisperse cylindrical micelles by crystallization-driven livingself-assembly”, 2010, Nat. Chem. , 2, 566-570.25