Block Copolymer Nanostructuring: Amphiphilic Block Copolymers as Templates for Particle Formation and Positioning

Block copolymers are fascinating materials that have attracted a lot of attention in recent years, as a consequence of their ability to serve as ideal building blocks to fabricate nanostructures. They are macromolecules consisting of chemically different parts (blocks) that tend to self-assembly into well-ordered nanoscaled structures both in bulk and in a selective solvent for one of the block. In this thesis, amphiphilic block copolymers were successfully applied as templates for the controlled formation and defined positioning of metal and metal oxide nanoparticles arranged in periodic patterns on flat surfaces and in polymer nanofibre structures. Furthermore, a method was developed to arrange nanoparticles in desired nano-structured micropatterns on flat substrates using the combinations of top_down" and "bottom-up" approaches: a self-assembled monolayer of hexagonally ordered block copolymer micelles loaded with gold precursor salt was used as a resist for lithography. Two diffrent energy sources were applied to selectively modify and pin the micelles to the substrate: UV light and s Focus Ion Beam."