Hirotaka Yonekura

Block copolymer-based nanocomposites with exotic self-assembled structures induced by a magnetic field

Structural control of polymer nanocomposites is important for their applications in organic semiconductors, lithographic nanopatterning, separation membranes, and nanofabrication templates. However, manufacturing nanocomposite materials with novel structures in a highly efficient yet precise manner remains a great challenge. To create nanocomposite structures, we combined self-assembly processing of block copolymer (BCP)-metal complex nanocomposites with an applied magnetic field. Here, we describe in detail the mechanism of magnetic alignment of block copolymers doped with metal complexes; specifically, we investigated the effect of the applied magnetic field on the phase behavior of the assembled block copolymer-metal complex nanocomposites with various molecular weights and with different molecular structures. We show that our combination of self-assembly processing and application of a magnetic field yielded lamellar structures of alternating multilayers with different layer thicknesses. This self-assembled structure is not included in phase diagrams of BCPs. The influence of the block copolymers’ molecular structures on the nanocomposites’ phase transformation behavior is also discussed. Our results provide a route to manufacturing nanocomposite materials in a highly efficient yet precise manner, which could lead to improvement in the material properties of nanocomposites.

Synthesis of a High-Coercivity FePt–Ag Nanocomposite Magnet via Block Copolymer-Templated Self-Assembly

Magnetic recording media are composed of magnetic thin films consisting of magnetically isolated crystallites. For practical use of magnetic particles as recording media, it will be necessary to realize high coercivity by fabricating nanocrystalline grains and forming grain boundaries with the nonmagnetic phase. In this study, a high-coercivity FePt–Ag nanocomposite magnet was synthesized by means of block copolymer-templated self-assembly. Precursors of Fe, Pt, and Ag were introduced into a polymer block, and the resulting material was oxidized and then reduced to form a nanocomposite consisting of FePt nanoparticles surrounded by a matrix of Ag. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the introduction of Ag did not significantly affect the crystalline ordering of the FePt. The addition of Ag increased the coercivity by 53% (from 11.1 to 17.0 kOe). Our results suggest that the grain boundaries of the nonmagnetic Ag metal acted as pinning sites, disrupting magnetic coupling between individual FePt nanocrystallites and hindering domain wall motion at an external magnetic field.