Self-Controlled Growth of Silica Thin Films for Nanopatterning

We report a new method to control both the nucleation and growth of SiO2 to form nanopatterns width in an oil phase, using poly(styrene-b-4-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-4PV) as a template. The resulting SiO2 can be selectively grown on protonated 4VP blocks up to a height of 8 nm by 60 nm.