Vukovic Ivana, Punzhin Sergey, Voet Vincent S D, Vukovic Zorica, de Hosson Jeff Th M, ten Brinke Gerrit, Loos Katja
Department of Polymer Chemistry, Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen.
Materials Science, Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen.
J Vis Exp. 2014 Apr 28(86):50673. doi: 10.3791/50673.
Nanoporous metal foams possess a unique combination of properties - they are catalytically active, thermally and electrically conductive, and furthermore, have high porosity, high surface-to-volume and strength-to-weight ratio. Unfortunately, common approaches for preparation of metallic nanostructures render materials with highly disordered architecture, which might have an adverse effect on their mechanical properties. Block copolymers have the ability to self-assemble into ordered nanostructures and can be applied as templates for the preparation of well-ordered metal nanofoams. Here we describe the application of a block copolymer-based supramolecular complex - polystyrene-block-poly(4-vinylpyridine)(pentadecylphenol) PS-b-P4VP(PDP) - as a precursor for well-ordered nickel nanofoam. The supramolecular complexes exhibit a phase behavior similar to conventional block copolymers and can self-assemble into the bicontinuous gyroid morphology with two PS networks placed in a P4VP(PDP) matrix. PDP can be dissolved in ethanol leading to the formation of a porous structure that can be backfilled with metal. Using electroless plating technique, nickel can be inserted into the template's channels. Finally, the remaining polymer can be removed via pyrolysis from the polymer/inorganic nanohybrid resulting in nanoporous nickel foam with inverse gyroid morphology.
纳米多孔金属泡沫具有独特的性能组合——它们具有催化活性、热传导性和导电性，此外，还具有高孔隙率、高比表面积和高强度重量比。不幸的是，制备金属纳米结构的常用方法会使材料具有高度无序的结构，这可能会对其机械性能产生不利影响。嵌段共聚物能够自组装成有序的纳米结构，并可作为制备有序金属纳米泡沫的模板。在此，我们描述了一种基于嵌段共聚物的超分子复合物——聚苯乙烯-嵌段-聚（4-乙烯基吡啶）（十五烷基苯酚）PS-b-P4VP（PDP）——作为有序镍纳米泡沫前驱体的应用。该超分子复合物表现出与传统嵌段共聚物相似的相行为，并且能够自组装成双连续的螺旋状形态，其中两个PS网络置于P4VP（PDP）基质中。PDP可溶于乙醇，从而形成可被金属回填的多孔结构。使用化学镀技术，可将镍插入模板的通道中。最后，通过热解可从聚合物/无机纳米杂化物中除去剩余的聚合物，从而得到具有反螺旋状形态的纳米多孔镍泡沫。
