ROMPI-CDSA: Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization-Induced Crystallization-Driven Self-Assembly of Metallo-Block Copolymers

Ye Sha, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry , University of South Carolina , Columbia , South Carolina 29208 , USA . Email: tang4@mailbox.sc.edu.
Md Anisur Rahman, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry , University of South Carolina , Columbia , South Carolina 29208 , USA . Email: tang4@mailbox.sc.edu.
Tianyu Zhu, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry , University of South Carolina , Columbia , South Carolina 29208 , USA . Email: tang4@mailbox.sc.edu.
Yujin Cha, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry , University of South Carolina , Columbia , South Carolina 29208 , USA . Email: tang4@mailbox.sc.edu.
C Wayne McAlister, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry , University of South Carolina , Columbia , South Carolina 29208 , USA . Email: tang4@mailbox.sc.edu.
Chuanbing Tang, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry , University of South Carolina , Columbia , South Carolina 29208 , USA . Email: tang4@mailbox.sc.edu.

Abstract

Polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) and crystallization-driven self-assembly (CDSA) are among the most prevailing methods for block copolymer self-assembly. Taking the merits of scalability of PISA and dimension control of CDSA, we report one-pot synchronous PISA and CDSA ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) to prepare nano-objects based on a crystalline poly(ruthenocene) motif. We denote this self-assembly methodology as ROMPI-CDSA to enable a simple, yet robust approach for the preparation of functional nanomaterials.