Block Copolymer Templates

Project A2 aims at preparing highly ordered tunable block copolymer films which will serve as mesoporous templates for specific immobilization and spatial positioning of molecular catalysts from project area B either at the pore bottom or at the pore walls. Templates with pore sizes between 20 and 10 nm will be obtained from cylindrical and cocontinuous morphologies by using a combination of controlled polymerization and template creation by self-assembly and selective etching processes. Electrochemistry will be applied as a probe technique to identify porosity and tortuosity of the mesopores. The project will help to elucidate confinement effects in molecular heterogeneous catalysis.