Fabrication of novel polymeric and carbonaceous nanoscale networks by the union of self-assembly and hypercrosslinking

Abstract

Constructing three-dimensionally interconnected nanoscale networks is critical for porous materials to achieving enhanced pore accessibility and fast mass transport. Currently, development of facile and effective methods for fabrication of three-dimensional polymeric and carbonaceous networks with a well-defined nanostructure is still challenging. Herein, we present a successful development of a novel class of polymeric and carbonaceous nanoscale networks based on the union of self-assembly and hypercrosslinking. A poly(methyl methacrylate)-b-polystyrene (PMMA-b-PS) diblock copolymer was first self-assembled into uniform PMMA@PS core–shell nanospheres, and then the resulting nanospheres were used as building blocks to construct polymeric nanoscale networks by hypercrosslinking. Due to their hypercrosslinked framework, the as-prepared polymeric nanoscale networks were further transformed into carbonaceous nanoscale networks after carbonization. The resulting nanoporous materials have well-developed three-dimensionally interconnected hierarchical porosity and thus hold great promise in many applications, for example, as CO₂ capture materials and as supercapacitor electrodes.