In Situ Control of Self-Assembled Morphology and Photonic Properties via In-Film Polymerization
Abstract
Bottlebrush block copolymers (BBCPs) are promising materials for the fabrication of photonic crystals because of their tunable composition and rapid self-assembly into large-period nanostructures. However, it is currently difficult to achieve spatially resolved control over nanostructure and photonic response, because these nanostructures are usually fixed upon fabrication. Here, we demonstrate that in-film polymerization within a BBCP photonic film provides a composition-directing route to alter its morphology and structural color based on the effective volume fraction of the two blocks. Monomer vapor swells photoinitiatorcontaining BBCP films and undergoes UV-triggered photopolymerization, generating a homopolymer in situ within the BBCP matrix. Reflectance spectroscopy monitored the color evolution, while SEM visualized the accompanying morphology changes, which were driven by the shift in film composition from the resulting homopolymer. Masked irradiation further provides a proof-of-concept route to localize the polymerization and resulting optical response within a single film.
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BibTeX
@article{shin2026situ,
title = {{In Situ Control of Self-Assembled Morphology and Photonic Properties via In-Film Polymerization}},
author = {Minjoong Shin and Kaitlyn R Wiegand and Lucy T Stevens and Simona G Fine and Cécile a C Chazot and Damien Guironnet and Muzhou Wang},
journal = {Nano Letters},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1021/acs.nanolett.6c02315},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05773157v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - In Situ Control of Self-Assembled Morphology and Photonic Properties via In-Film Polymerization
AU - Minjoong Shin
AU - Kaitlyn R Wiegand
AU - Lucy T Stevens
AU - Simona G Fine
AU - Cécile a C Chazot
AU - Damien Guironnet
AU - Muzhou Wang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/21
JO - Nano Letters
DO - 10.1021/acs.nanolett.6c02315
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05773157v1
AB - Bottlebrush block copolymers (BBCPs) are promising materials for the fabrication of photonic crystals because of their tunable composition and rapid self-assembly into large-period nanostructures. However, it is currently difficult to achieve spatially resolved control over nanostructure and photonic response, because these nanostructures are usually fixed upon fabrication. Here, we demonstrate that in-film polymerization within a BBCP photonic film provides a composition-directing route to alter its morphology and structural color based on the effective volume fraction of the two blocks. Monomer vapor swells photoinitiatorcontaining BBCP films and undergoes UV-triggered photopolymerization, generating a homopolymer in situ within the BBCP matrix. Reflectance spectroscopy monitored the color evolution, while SEM visualized the accompanying morphology changes, which were driven by the shift in film composition from the resulting homopolymer. Masked irradiation further provides a proof-of-concept route to localize the polymerization and resulting optical response within a single film.
SN - 1530-6984
SN - 1530-6992
ER -