CHEMICALLY FUNCTIONALIZED SURFACES FROM ULTRATHIN BLOCK-COPOLYMER FILMS

Supramolecular self-assembly of polystyrene-poly(vinylpyridine) dibloc k copolymers adsorbed from a selective solvent onto smooth substrates was used to create surfaces with regularly varying chemical compositio n. Well-ordered arrays of localized chemical reaction sites are formed on such surfaces with sizes and intersite distances of molecular leng th scales. We demonstrate site-specific complex formation with transit ion metal salts resulting in a nanoscopic ordered array of metal salt- polymer complexes. Selective etching of the metal-loaded microdomains is shown. the effect of block copolymer molecular architecture on the supramolecular structure of these ''chemically functionalized'' surfac es was studied. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.