Organically modified aluminosilicate mesostructures from block copolymer phases

Organically modified aluminosilicate mesostructures were synthesized from two metal alkoxides with the use of poly(isoprene-b-ethyleneoxide) block copolymers (PI-b-PEO) as the structure-directing molecules. By increasing the fraction of the inorganic precursors with respect to the polymer, morphologies expected from the phase diagrams of diblock copolymers were obtained. The length scale of the microstructures and the state of alignment were varied using concepts known from the study of block copolymers. These results suggest that the use of higher molecular weight block copolymer mesophases instead of conventional low-molecular weight surfactants may provide a simple, easily controlled pathway for the preparation of various silica-type mesostructures that extends the accessible length scale of these structures by about an order of magnitude.