Porous polymer films and honeycomb structures based on amphiphilic dendronized block copolymers

Fabrication of honeycomb patterned films from our synthesized amphiphilic dendronized block copolymer by "on-solid surface spreading" method and "on-water spreading" method was reported for the first time in this paper. The comparison of the two methods indicated honeycomb-patterned films with smaller size, and larger surface density of micropores can be fabricated by spreading on water but with lower regular arrangement. Furthermore, several influencing factors on the formation of the honeycomb structure and the different morphologies, such as the concentration of the copolymer solution and the relative humidity in the atmosphere and the substrates, were investigated. The results showed that comparably high relative humidity from 80% to 95% was needed, and the mica plate as a spreading substrate was suitable to form orderly porous films for such a copolymer. The best ordered pattern could be formed from the copolymer with concentration of 1.00 mg/mL at the relative humidity of 85% using a mica plate. Besides, strong periodicity, regularity, and a large, defect-free area were notable, which made this structure extremely interesting for applications for templated molecular objects formed via intramolecular metal or metal oxide synthesis.