Silver Nanoparticle Arrays Prepared by In Situ Automatic Reduction of Silver Ions in Mussel-Inspired Block Copolymer Films

Block copolymer phase separation has been employed to form templates for the fabrication of nanoscale patterns of metals due to their characteristic size scales that range from several nanometers to tens of nanometers. In the present work, poly(vinyl catechol-block-styrene) PVCa-b-PSt synthesized with various compositions forms unique microphase-separated structures. Silver nanoparticles are spontaneously formed inside of the PVCa phases due to the reductive properties of the catechol moieties. The alignment and formation of silver nanoparticle arrays is successfully achieved without the need for high-temperature thermal treatment or chemical reduction processes. The present system can be applied to the formation of nanoparticle arrays with a wide variety of metals by control of their arrangement.