One-dimensional ion-conductive polymer films: alignment and fixation of ionic channels formed by self-organization of polymerizable columnar liquid crystals.

We have prepared two types of one-dimensional ion-conductive polymer films containing ion nanochannels that are both perpendicular and parallel to the film surface. These films have been obtained by photopolymerization of aligned columnar liquid crystals of a fan-shaped imidazolium salt having acrylate groups at the periphery. In the columnar structure, the ionic part self-assembles into the inner part of the column. The column is oriented macroscopically in two directions by different methods: orientation perpendicular to the modified surfaces of glass and indium tin oxide with 3-(aminopropyl)triethoxysilane and orientation parallel to a glass surface by mechanical shearing. Ionic conductivities have been measured for the films with columnar orientation vertical and parallel to the surface. Anisotropic ionic conductivities are observed for the oriented films fixed by photopolymerization. The ionic conductivities parallel to the columnar axis are higher than those perpendicular to the columnar axis because the lipophilic part functions as an ion-insulating part. The film with the columns oriented vertically to the surface shows an anisotropy of ionic conductivities higher than that of the film with the columns aligned parallel to the surface.