Sebastian Russell

Abstract Block copolymers spontaneously self-assemble into well-defined nanoscale morphologies. Yet equilibrium assembly gives rise to a limited set of structures. Non-equilibrium strategies can, in principle, expand diversity by exploiting self-assembly’s responsive nature. In this vein, we developed a pathway priming strategy combining control of thin film initial configurations and ordering history.

The use of nanoparticles (NPs) to compatibilize immiscible polymer blends remains an ongoing challenge requiring a high level of control over the NP dispersion and localization. Here, we show that silica NPs “sparsely” grafted with long polystyrene (PS) chains are surfactant-like because they permit core–core, core–matrix, and corona–matrix interactions.

Polymer electrolytes, which are commonly used as separator materials in electrochemical devices, have ionic conductivity that is thought to be controlled by segmental mobility. Thus, any improvements made toward increasing ionic mobility come at the expense of mechanical integrity. However, selectively solvating the ionic domain, the region responsible for ion conduction, with water or polar organic solvents presents a potential opportunity to circumvent this physical constraint.