Controlled fabrication of one-dimensional polymer nanostructures via metallogel template polymerization

A facile method is reported to controllably fabricate one dimensional (1D) polymer nanostructures via metallogel template polymerization. The metallogel was prepared through coordination interactions between silver ions and a ligand (L) bearing three pyridyl groups in tetrahydrofuran (THF). The diameters of the metallogel nanofibers could be tuned by the gel concentration (GC). Due to its high thermal stability and facility of removal, the metallogel was used as the template for radical polymerization of diacryolyl-2,6-diaminopyridine (DADAP) to form poly-diacryolyl-2,6-diaminopyridine (PDADAP) nanostructures. The gradually eroding of the templates by PDADAP provided us an effective way to fabricate various nanostructures of the polymer. We have demonstrated that different 1D nanostructures, including nanoribbons, nanotubes and nanowires, could be selectively fabricated by adjusting polymerization time, monomer concentration and GC. The rheological properties of the gel samples were tested by a rheometer. As prolonging the reaction time, more and more polymers were formed and the strength of the resulting polymer gels became higher and higher. The simple preparation process, easy controlled microstructures and adequate gel strength would make it a facile synthetic method for different 1D polymer nanosturctures.