Periodic soft templating

Whereas in the works reviewed above predominantly AAO hard templates with a Dp-value about one order of magnitude larger than the periods of the BCP soft templates were used, Wu et al. systematically studied the self-assembly of EO20PO70EO20 inside AAO hard templates having Dp-values from 80 down to 20 nm [182,183]. Inside such narrow pores, bulk-Hke morphologies were completely suppressed. For Dp-values between 55 and 73 nm. 

The template synthesis for electrochemical applications was first explored by Martin. ° He introduced membrane-based synthesis by which the desired materials were prepared within the pores of a nanoporous membrane called template . More recently, other templating methods have been developed and one can distinguish hard or soft templating routes. Hard templating, usually based on colloidal crystals assemblies, is straightforward and highly effective method to prepare periodic macroporous structures that mimic the original shape of... 

Y.H. Kim, D.K. Yoon, H.S. Jeong, H.T. Jung, Self-assembled periodic hquid crystal defects array for soft lithographic template. Soft Matter 6, 1426-1431 (2010)... 

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