Brief review of metal nanoclusters in block copolymer films

We provide a brief non-comprehensive survey of some recent work on the in situ production of metal nanoclusters in polymer films. The synthesis schemes rely on the well-known spontaneous microphase separation of block copolymers to restrict metal species within nanoscale regions in the bulk morphology. In one variation of the scheme, organometallic monomers are used to form one of the block sequences of the block copolymer. A second approach relies on metal-sequestering moieties in one of the blocks which assemble to produce 'nanoreactors' capable of being loaded with metal species for later reduction to zerovalent clusters. Morphological evidence is provided to assess the success of these schemes. A few properties of the metal-containing nanocomposite films are discussed here. These include electrical properties and catalytic activity in hydrogenation reactions.