One-pot universal initiation-growth methods from a liquid crystalline block copolymer

Abstract

The construction of hierarchical nanostructures with precise morphological and dimensional control has been one of the ultimate goals of contemporary materials science and chemistry, and the emulation of tailor-made nanoscale superstructures realized in the nature, using artificial building blocks, poses outstanding challenges. Herein we report a one-pot strategy to precisely synthesize hierarchical nanostructures through an in-situ initiation-growth process from a liquid crystalline block copolymer. The assembly process, analogous to living chain polymerization, can be triggered by small-molecule, macromolecule or even nanoobject initiators to produce various hierarchical superstructures with highly uniform morphologies and finely tunable dimensions. Because of the high degree of controllability and predictability, this assembly strategy opens the avenue to the design and construction of hierarchical structures with broad utility and accessibility.