Adv Polym Sci (2013) 262: 259–294
DOI: 10.1007/12_2013_246
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
Published online: 29 October 2013
Design and Applications of Multiscale
Organic–Inorganic Hybrid Materials
Derived from Block Copolymer
Self-Assembly
Kahyun Hur and Ulrich Wiesner
Abstract Block copolymer (BCP) self-assembly (SA) is a useful tool for designing
materials with tunable nanostructure as well as controllable multiscale, hierarchical
structure. A combination of BCP SA with inorganic materials results in functional
hybrid materials with ordered structures down to the nanoscale, thereby exploiting
both the advantageous features of structure tunability from BCP SA and functionality
from inorganic materials. Rather than a comprehensive review of the entire field
of hybrid materials, this overview summarizes a variety of BCP-derived synthetic
approaches developed over the last 10–15 years, with emphasis on work by the
Wiesner group at Cornell University on hybrid materials with structural characteristics on multiple length scales. This encompasses hybrids with thermodynamic
equilibrium-type BCP nanostructures, controlled nonequilibrium-type structure
formation processes leading to structural asymmetries, as well as formation of
hierarchical BCP materials with control over nanoscale and macroscale structures.
Besides the development of wet-chemical methodologies for their synthesis, this
overview also features some promising first applications of such materials. Results
suggest that BCP SA directed synthetic approaches may provide routes to costeffective and large-scale materials fabrication potentially useful for both, new
materials discovery and study of fundamental structure – property correlations
as well as exploration of the materials in a number of today’s most pressing
applications including water filtration and energy conversion and storage.
K. Hur
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
Current address: Institute of Multidisciplinary Convergence of Materials, Korea Institute of
Science and Technology, Seoul 136-791, South Korea
U. Wiesner (*)
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
e-mail: ubw1@cornell.edu
DOI: 10.1007/12_2013_246
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
Published online: 29 October 2013
Design and Applications of Multiscale
Organic–Inorganic Hybrid Materials
Derived from Block Copolymer
Self-Assembly
Kahyun Hur and Ulrich Wiesner
Abstract Block copolymer (BCP) self-assembly (SA) is a useful tool for designing
materials with tunable nanostructure as well as controllable multiscale, hierarchical
structure. A combination of BCP SA with inorganic materials results in functional
hybrid materials with ordered structures down to the nanoscale, thereby exploiting
both the advantageous features of structure tunability from BCP SA and functionality
from inorganic materials. Rather than a comprehensive review of the entire field
of hybrid materials, this overview summarizes a variety of BCP-derived synthetic
approaches developed over the last 10–15 years, with emphasis on work by the
Wiesner group at Cornell University on hybrid materials with structural characteristics on multiple length scales. This encompasses hybrids with thermodynamic
equilibrium-type BCP nanostructures, controlled nonequilibrium-type structure
formation processes leading to structural asymmetries, as well as formation of
hierarchical BCP materials with control over nanoscale and macroscale structures.
Besides the development of wet-chemical methodologies for their synthesis, this
overview also features some promising first applications of such materials. Results
suggest that BCP SA directed synthetic approaches may provide routes to costeffective and large-scale materials fabrication potentially useful for both, new
materials discovery and study of fundamental structure – property correlations
as well as exploration of the materials in a number of today’s most pressing
applications including water filtration and energy conversion and storage.
K. Hur
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
Current address: Institute of Multidisciplinary Convergence of Materials, Korea Institute of
Science and Technology, Seoul 136-791, South Korea
U. Wiesner (*)
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
e-mail: ubw1@cornell.edu