Solid-state copolymers, polyferrocenylsilane

Polyferrocenylsilane block copolymers also phase separate in solid state to generate periodic, nanoscopic iron-rich domains that can be observed by TEM without resorting to staining techniques.24 This bulk self-assembly behavior has been studied with various block copolymers, such as PS-fe-PFS,24,52 PI-h-PFS,49 and PFS-b-PMMA.22 Additional self-assembly complications... 

Polyferrocenylsilane block copolymers in which the blocks are immiscible (which is generally the case) would be expected to self-assemble to form phase-separated organometallic domains in the solid state. Based on the classical behavior of organic block copolymers, thin films of polyferrocene diblock copolymers would be expected to form domains such as spheres, cylinders, double diamonds (or gyro-ids) (or their antistructures), or lamellae (Chapter 1, Section 1.2.5). The preferred domain structure would be expected to be controlled by the ratio of the blocks, their degree of immiscibility (as defined by the Flory-Hu ins interaction parameter x), and the overall molecular weight of the block copolymer [159]. 

This chapter focuses on polyferrocenylsilanes (PFSs) where iron and silicon are in the main chain. Subsequently, PFS block copolymers will be reviewed. These materials represent an area of rapidly growing interest as a result of their self-assembly into phase-separated metal-rich nanodomain structures in thin films and micelles in block-selective solvents. The resulting nanostructured materials have a wealth of potential applications and recent breakthroughs in this area are discussed. The subject matter of the chapter is divided up into subsections covering PFS homopolymer and block copolymer synthesis, solution and solid-state self-assembly and applications of the latter, which have been extensively developed by ourselves and our collaborators and also by other research groups. 

Polyferrocenylsilane block copolymers also phase separate in the solid state to generate periodic, nanoscopic iron-rich domains that can be observed by TEM without resorting to... 

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