Oxides and Nitrides with Asymmetric Pore Structure from Block Copolymer Co-Assembly and Non-Solvent Induced Phase Separation

Materials combining an asymmetric pore structure with mesopores everywhere enable high surface area accessibility and fast transport, making them attractive for e.g., energy conversion and storage applications. Block copolymer (BCP)/inorganic precursor co-assembly combined with non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) provides a route to materials in which a mesoporous top surface layer merges into an asymmetric support with graded porosity along the film normal and mesopores throughout. Here, the co-assembly and non-solvent-induced phase separation (CNIPS) of poly(isoprene)-b-poly(styrene)-b-poly(4-vinylpyridine) (ISV) triblock terpolymer and titanium dioxide (TiO2) sol-gel nanoparticlesare reported. Heat-treatment in air results in free-standing asymmetric porous TiO2. Further thermal processing in ammonia results in free-standing asymmetric porous titanium nitride (TiN). processing changes alter structural membrane characteristics is demonstrated. Changing the CNIPS evaporation time results in various membrane cross-sections ( finger-like to sponge-like). Oxide and nitride material composition, crystallinity, and porosity are tuned by varying thermal processing conditions. Finally, thermal processing condition effects are probed on phase-pure asymmetric nitride membrane behavior using cyclic voltammetry to elucidate their influence, e.g., on specific capacitance. Results provide further insights into improving asymmetric and porous materials for applications including energy conversion and storage, separation, and catalysis and motivate a further expansion of CNIPS to other (in)organic materials.

Automated summary

This article presents a method for preparing asymmetric porous materials using copolymer and non-solvent induced phase separation (CNIPS) technique, and investigates the influence of thermal processing on the structure and properties of these materials. The results show that changing the processing conditions allows for control of the pore structure and composition of the materials, which affects the performance of the membranes. This study is significant for improving the application of porous materials in energy conversion and storage, separation, and catalysis.