Synthesis and Phase Behavior of Adenine-containing Block Copolymers

Abstract

Block copolymers shows various microdomain such as lamellae, cylinders, gyroids, and spheres, depending on the volume fraction of one block, degree of polymerization (N) and Flory-Huggins segmental interaction parameter (χ). Adeninecontaining block polymers have received great attention for their complementary multiple hydrogen bonding between nucleobases, because they could be applied for biosensors, biochemical catalysis and drug therapies. Especially the self-assembled nanostructure of adenine-containing block copolymers can be used for the fabrication of a high density array of gold nanoparticles through hydrogen bonds between complementary nucleobases. While the synthesis of adenine-containing block copolymers has been reported in the literature, there are a few reports for investigation of the morphology or phase behavior due to the difficult polymerization arising from poor solubility in a solvent. Therefore, the synthesis of adenine-containing block copolymers having narrow molecular weight distribution (PDI) with various volume fractions is essential to study in detail phase behavior and fabricate a well-ordered nanostructure on a substrate. In this thesis, I investigated the phase behavior of block copolymers consisting of adenine-containing blocks and polystyrene blocks. Thin film of adenine-containing block copolymer were used as a template for the fabrication of high density array of gold nanoparticles.