Fabrication of the multilayered nanostructure of alternating polymers and gold nanoparticles with thin films of self-assembling diblock copolymers

We demonstrated successful fabrication of a multilayered nanostructure of alternating pure polymeric lamellae and gold nanoparticle-containing lamellae, both in a nanometer thickness, by utilization of thin films of symmetric polystyrene-bloch-poly(4-vinylpyridine), PS-b-P4VP. The strong interaction between the P4VP block and the substrate and lower surface energy of the PS block generated a multilayer of lamellae parallel to the substrate with an asymmetric wetting configuration. Then, gold nanoparticles were synthesized selectively in the P4VP lamellae without altering the multilayered structure. The thin film of alternating polymers and gold nanoparticles was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. Since self-assembling polymers were employed, the multilayered nanostructure was effectively fabricated without a layer-by-layer process.