Uniform fiber-like polymeric micelles of controlled length containing a photo-cleavable core: Versatile templates toward functional nanotubes

Y Inorganic nanotubes with unique and well-defined porous structures show promising applications in diverse functional materials. However, it remains a challenge to fabricate inorganic nanotubes with precise length controllability. Herein, we report the synthesis of block copolymers consisting of a crystalline pi-conjugated oligo (p-phenylenevinylene) (OPV) block, a hydrophilic poly(2-vinylpyridine) (P2VP) segment and a photo-cleavable o-nitrobenzyl (ONB) junction. By taking advantage of crystallinity of OPV segment, self-seeding approach of living crystallization-driven self-assembly was employed to generate uniform fiber-like micelles composed of an OPV core and a P2VP corona. The P2VP corona was then used to host the formation of silica, titania and Pt(0)embedded silica shell. After the photo-cleavable OBN junctions were broken under light irradiation, the OPV core can be removed in a good solvent for OPV segments to give silica, titania and Pt(0)-embedded silica nanotubes. Significantly, the Pt(0)-embedded silica nanotubes exhibited much higher catalytic activity toward the reductiond of p-nitroaniline than Pt(0)-embedded silica nanofibers with the same Pt content, probably owing to the presence of porous channel for nanotubes. This work opens a new avenue to fabricate inorganic nanotubes of controlled length.

Automated summary

This study reports the synthesis of inorganic nanotubes with unique structures using a living crystallization-driven self-assembly method, achieving precise control over the length of the nanotubes. These inorganic nanotubes exhibit higher catalytic activity in reactions, possibly due to their porous structure.