3D Printed Block Copolymer Nanostructures

The emergence of 3D printing has dramatically advanced the availability of tangible molecular and extended solid models. Interestingly, there are few nanostructure models available both commercially and through other do-it-yourself approaches such as 3D printing. This is unfortunate given the importance of nanotechnology in science today. In this work, we have filled part of this gap by designing and 3D printing several block copolymer (BCP) nanostructure morphologies. We used a variety of methods including manually drawing the files within 3D computer design software, using equations with mathematical graphing software, and developing a programming script to convert self-consistent field theory (SCFT) structure data into a 3D printable file. Conversion of SCF data into 3D printable structures may find broader applicability beyond creating BCP nanostructures as SCF calculations are used in a variety of geometric computations. All methods reported herein produced tangible 3D prints of approximately equal quality. These tangible models will be useful for educators, students, and researchers in polymer science and nanotechnology.