Design Guidelines for Block Copolymer‐Templated In2O3 Nanowires: Linking Morphology, Sintering, and Volatile Organic Compounds Sensing Performance
- 1Faculty of Chemistry University of Warsaw Warsaw Poland
- 2NanoBioMedical Center Adam Mickiewicz University Poznań Poland
- 3National Synchrotron Light Source II Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton New York USA
Abstract
We provide design guidelines for obtaining functional indium (III) oxide nanowire (NW) (In2O3 NW) meshes for chemiresistive sensing via a practical, single‐step templating route that utilizes a precursor‐infused block copolymer (BCP) ink. This approach realizes a long‐sought promise of BCP‐templated functional nanostructures: reproducible patterning of active sensing materials with tunable morphology and high scalability potential. By varying BCP molecular weight, we systematically tune NW geometry and network connectivity, correlate morphology with baseline resistivity and chemiresistive metrics toward volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and identify an optimal BCP molecular weight that maximizes sensitivity. An optimized thermal annealing protocol sinters the sensory NW mesh, increasing its electrical conductivity by two orders of magnitude and stabilizing chemical and microstructural state, which yields durable, repeatable responses. Using the optimized morphology and annealing protocol, we evaluate sensing against six types of model VOC air pollutants, demonstrating robust high sensitivity. By correlating the performance with structural parameters, we establish quantitative guidelines linking BCP molecular weight, NW geometry, percolation, electrical resistivity, and VOC detection sensitivity. This method combines the nanoscale precision and tunability of BCP templating with the practicality of spin‐coating processes, establishing a reproducible process blueprint compatible with large‐area deposition techniques, pending future optimization of strict process control parameters.
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BibTeX
@article{pula2026design,
title = {{Design Guidelines for Block Copolymer‐Templated In2O3 Nanowires: Linking Morphology, Sintering, and Volatile Organic Compounds Sensing Performance}},
author = {Przemyslaw Pula and Zofia Z. Zawistowska and Mariya V. Dobrotvorska and Szymon Murawka and Honghu Zhang and Mikołaj Lewandowski and Pawel W. Majewski},
journal = {Small Structures},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1002/sstr.70639},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/sstr.70639},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Design Guidelines for Block Copolymer‐Templated In2O3 Nanowires: Linking Morphology, Sintering, and Volatile Organic Compounds Sensing Performance
AU - Przemyslaw Pula
AU - Zofia Z. Zawistowska
AU - Mariya V. Dobrotvorska
AU - Szymon Murawka
AU - Honghu Zhang
AU - Mikołaj Lewandowski
AU - Pawel W. Majewski
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/25
JO - Small Structures
DO - 10.1002/sstr.70639
UR - https://doi.org/10.1002/sstr.70639
AB - We provide design guidelines for obtaining functional indium (III) oxide nanowire (NW) (In2O3 NW) meshes for chemiresistive sensing via a practical, single‐step templating route that utilizes a precursor‐infused block copolymer (BCP) ink. This approach realizes a long‐sought promise of BCP‐templated functional nanostructures: reproducible patterning of active sensing materials with tunable morphology and high scalability potential. By varying BCP molecular weight, we systematically tune NW geometry and network connectivity, correlate morphology with baseline resistivity and chemiresistive metrics toward volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and identify an optimal BCP molecular weight that maximizes sensitivity. An optimized thermal annealing protocol sinters the sensory NW mesh, increasing its electrical conductivity by two orders of magnitude and stabilizing chemical and microstructural state, which yields durable, repeatable responses. Using the optimized morphology and annealing protocol, we evaluate sensing against six types of model VOC air pollutants, demonstrating robust high sensitivity. By correlating the performance with structural parameters, we establish quantitative guidelines linking BCP molecular weight, NW geometry, percolation, electrical resistivity, and VOC detection sensitivity. This method combines the nanoscale precision and tunability of BCP templating with the practicality of spin‐coating processes, establishing a reproducible process blueprint compatible with large‐area deposition techniques, pending future optimization of strict process control parameters.
SN - 2688-4062
ER -