Nanoporous thin films from self-assembled metallo-supramolecular block copolymers

Nanoporous thin polymer films have been produced by a simple two-step approach using metallo-supramolecular block copolymers as the starting materials. The first step is the self-assembly of the copolymer, yielding cylindrical microdomains oriented normal to the substrate. The second step involves the opening of the metal-ligand complex located at the junction of the two blocks by redox chemistry to release the minor block and create the pores (see Figure).