Ozonolysis efficiency of PS‐b‐PI block copolymers for forming nanoporous polystyrene

A PS‐ b ‐PI diblock copolymer has been synthesized and blended with a homopolystyrene of a variable molecular weight at a variable weight ratio, resulting in different volume fractions of PS to PI and various morphologies. After being cast as a film, the double bonds in the PI microdomains were cleaved via ozonolysis resulting in the formation of a nanoporous PS. The ease of ozonolysis depended strongly upon the morphology of the PI microdomains. The degree of ozonization after 24‐h reaction was about 90% for lamellar microdomains, about 80% for bicontinuous microdomains, about 70% for cylindrical microdomains, and about 50% for spherical microdomains. These variations were attributed to the decrease in the contact area of PI microdomains with ozone and the total volume of PI microdomains accessible to ozone. All PS‐ b ‐PI/homopolystyrene samples have turned into nanoporous materials after the removal of PI nanodomains. SEM, AFM, and TEM images indicated that the resulting PS had a pore size of 20–30 nm, and thus was potentially useful for photonic crystals or fuel cell applications.