Preparation of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane-containing block copolymer with well-controlled stereoregularity

Preparation of functional domains with a spacing of 10 nm is a benchmark set to fabricate next-generation electronic devices. Organic–inorganic block copolymers form well-ordered microphase separations with very small domain sizes. The design and preparation of a novel block copolymer consisting of syndiotactic polymethyl methacrylate (st-PMMA) and polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS)-functionalized polymethacrylate, designated as st-PMMA-b-PMAPOSS, which can recognize functional molecules, are reported. The st-PMMA segments form a helical structure and encapsulate C60 in the helical nanocavity, leading to the formation of an inclusion complex. Although the ordering of the domains is not high, C60 domains that are in a quasi-equilibrium state, with about 10-nm domain spacings, are generated using st-PMMA-b-PMAPOSS that can recognize functional molecules. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019, 57, 2181–2189.