Highly Ordered Nanoporous Films from Supramolecular Diblock Copolymers with Hydrogen-Bonding Junctions

We designed efficient precursors that combine complementary associative groups with exceptional binding affinities and thiocarbonylthio moieties enabling precise RAFT polymerization. Well defined PS and PMMA supramolecular polymers with molecular weights up to 30 kgmol(-1) are synthesized and shown to form highly stable supramolecular diblock copolymers (BCPs) when mixed, in non-polar solvents or in the bulk. Hierarchical self-assembly of such supramolecular BCPs by thermal annealing affords morphologies with excellent lateral order, comparable to features expected from covalent diblock copolymer analogues. Simple washing of the resulting materials with protic solvents disrupts the supramolecular association and selectively dissolves one polymer, affording a straightforward process for preparing well-ordered nanoporous materials without resorting to cross-linking or invasive chemical degradations.