Nanolithography through mixture of block copolymer micelles

Block copolymer micelle lithography is known for producing ordered and uniform nanostructures. In this report, we have combined different types of block copolymer to produce two interpenetrating lattices of micelle nanoreactors, further extending the capacity of block copolymer micelle lithography. Using polystyrene-block-poly(acrylic acid) and polystyrene-block-poly(4-vinylpyridine), we have generated hexagonally packed hybrid micelles. Metal species can preferentially sequester into poly(acrylic acid) and poly(4-vinylpyridine) cores respectively by immersion of the micelle coated substrates into the metal precursor solution. As a result, metal containing nanoparticle hybrids, such as smaller zinc oxide nanoparticles surrounding larger gold nanoparticles, can be generated.