The formation of self-assembled ZnO nanoclusters using diblock copolymers, is reported. The diblock copolymers, consisting of a majority polymer (norbornene) and a minority polymer (norbornene-dicarboxcylic acid), were synthesized with a block repeat unit ratio of 400/50, to obtain spherical microphase separation and hence a spherical morphology for the metal oxide nanoclusters. The self-assembly of the inorganic nanoparticles was achieved at room temperature in the liquid phase, using ZnCl2 precursor dopant and wet chemical processing compatible with semiconductor manufacturing to convert to ZnO. FTIR and XPS spectroscopy, confirmed the association of the ZnCl2 precursor with the minority block and the formation of ZnO, while TEM showed the spherical morphology of ZnO nanoparticles as targeted, and a relatively narrow size distribution ranging between 7 and 15 nm. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.