Macromolecules, Vol.43, No.19, 8079-8085, 2010
Ultraporous Films with Uniform Nanochannels by Block Copolymer Micelles Assembly
Films with high pore density and regularity that are easy to manufacture by conventional large-scale technology arc key components aimed for fabrication of new generations or magnetic arrays I'm storage media. medical scaffolds. and artificial membranes. However. potential manufacture strategies like the self-assembly of block copolymers. which lead to amazing regular patterns could be hardly reproduced up to now using commercially feasible methods. Here we report a unique production method or nanoporous films based on the self-assembly of copper(H) ion-polystyrene-h-poly(4-vinylpyridine) complexes and nonsolvent induced phase separation. Extremely high pore densities and uniformity were achieved. Water fluxes of 890 L m(-2) h(-1) bar(-1) were obtained, which are at least 1 order of magnitude higher than those of commercially available membranes with comparable pore size. The pores are also stimuli (pH)-responsive.