Functional Block Copolymers as Guides for Nanoparticle Self-Assembly

Robert B. Grubbs, Dartmouth College, DMR 0804792

Many potential applications involving nanoparticles depend critically upon the properties imparted on the particles by their surface coating.

We have found that block copolymers can be useful surface modifiers for controlling the size and arrangement of cobalt nanoparticles.

We have prepared poly(ethylene oxide)-coated nanoparticles (see figure), which have the potential to be water-soluble and biocompatible. Further work is being directed toward the optimization and application of these materials.

Nanoparticles, such as those made from cobalt with interesting magnetic properties, have potential applications in data storage, disease diagnosis and therapy, and energy-related areas.

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TOP: Reaction of poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(alkyne-functional monomer) copolymer with cobalt nanoparticle precursors.BOTTOM: Typical atomic force microscopy (AFM) images showing the formation of nanometer scale features through self-assembly of these cobalt-modified polymers (left) and the copolymer/cobalt nanoparticle composites that result after heating (right). Bright areas in the AFM images correspond to cobalt-rich regions.

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Functional Block Copolymers as Guides for Nanoparticle Self-Assembly

Robert B. Grubbs, Dartmouth College, DMR 0804792

Broader Impacts:• Co-organized (with D. Shipp and J. Hedrick) “Functional Nanomaterials from New Polymer Synthetic Methodologies” Symposium in the POLY division at the American Chemical Society Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 2008.

• Served as an Alternate Councilor for the Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society, (January 2007 – December 2008).

• Served as a Judge, Rohm & Haas Electronic Materials Invitational Science Fair, April 2009.

• Began joint appointment at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials at Brookhaven National Laboratory in January 2009.

Stony Brook Group (8-2009). Tianyuan Wu (joint with B. Chu and B. Hsiao), Bingyin Jiang. Dr. Yu Cai not pictured.

Current group members underlined.

Dartmouth Group (6-2006). Q. Xia (MS 2006), Anna Greene (PhD expected 8/2009), Dr. L. Sessions (PhD 2006), Dr. A. Sundararaman (post-doc, now at Silberline Corp.), A. Bouchard (MS 2008), Dr. Yu Cai (PhD 2008, now post-doc at Stony Brook), RBG.