Abstract
The preparation of materials with aligned porosity in the micrometre range is of technological importance for a wide range of applications in organic electronics, microfluidics, molecular filtration and biomaterials. Here, we demonstrate a generic method for the preparation of aligned materials using polymers, nanoparticles or mixtures of these components as building blocks. Directional freezing is used to align the structural elements, either in the form of three-dimensional porous structures or as two-dimensional oriented surface patterns. This simple technique can be used to generate a diverse array of complex structures such as polymer–inorganic nanocomposites, aligned gold microwires and microwire networks, porous composite microfibres and biaxially aligned composite networks. The process does not involve any chemical reaction, thus avoiding potential complications associated with by-products or purification procedures.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Gu, H., Zheng, R., Zhang, X & Xu, B. Using soft lithography to pattern highly oriented polyacetylene (HOPA) films via solventless polymerization. Adv. Mater. 16, 1356–1359 (2004).
Quake, S. R. & Scherer, A. From micro- to nanofabrication with soft materials. Science 290, 1536–1540 (2000).
Yamaguchi, A. et al. Self-assembly of a silica-surfactant nanocomposite in a porous alumina membrane. Nature Mater. 3, 337–341 (2004).
Adelung, R. et al. Strain-controlled growth of nanowires within thin-film cracks. Nature Mater. 3, 375–379 (2004).
Xu, C. Y., Inai, R., Kotaki, M. & Ramakrishna, S. Aligned biodegradable nanofibrous structure: a potential scaffold for blood vessel engineering. Biomaterials 25, 877–886 (2004).
Mahler, W. & Bechtold, M. F. Freeze-formed silica fibres. Nature 285, 27–28 (1980).
Mukai, S. R., Nishihara, H. & Tamon, H. Formation of monolithic silica gel microhoneycombs (SMHs) using pseudosteady state growth of microstructural ice crystals. Chem. Commun. 874–875 (2004).
Fukasawa, T., Ando, M., Ohji, T. & Kanzaki, S. Synthesis of porous ceramics with complex pore structure by freeze-dry processing. J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 84, 230–232 (2001).
Butler, M. F. Growth of solutal ice dendrites studied by optical interferometry. Cryst. Growth Des. 2, 59–66 (2002).
Butler, M. F. Instability formation and directional dendritic growth of ice studied by optical interferometry. Cryst. Growth Des. 1, 213–223 (2001).
Butler, M. F. Freeze concentration of solutes at the ice/solution interface studied by optical interferometry. Cryst. Growth Des. 2, 541–548 (2002).
Hussain, I., Brust, M., Papworth, A. J. & Cooper, A. I. Preparation of acrylate stabilized gold and silver hydrosols and gold-polymer composite films. Langmuir 19, 4831–4835 (2003).
Uhlmann, D. R., Chalmers, B. & Jackson, K. A. Interaction between particles and a solid-liquid interface. J. Appl. Phys. 35, 2986–2993 (1964).
Körber, Ch., Rau, G., Cosman, M. D. & Cravalho, E. G. Interaction of particles and a moving ice-liquid interface. J. Cryst. Growth 72, 649–662 (1985).
Rempel, A. W. & Worster, M. G. The interaction between a particle and an advancing solidification front. J. Cryst. Growth 205, 427–440 (1999).
Butler, R., Hopkinson, I. & Cooper, A. I. Synthesis of porous emulsion-templated polymers using high internal phase CO2-in-water emulsions. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 125, 14473–14481 (2003).
Zhang, H. & Cooper, A. I. Synthesis of monodisperse emulsion-templated polymer beads by oil-in-water-in-oil (O/W/O) sedimentation polymerization. Chem. Mater. 14, 4017–4020 (2002).
Recknor, J. B., Recknor, J. C., Sakaguchi, D. S. & Mallapragada, S. K. Oriented astroglial cell growth on micropatterned polystyrene substrates. Biomaterials 25, 2753–2767 (2004).
Acknowledgements
We thank Unilever and EPSRC (Portfolio Partnership in Complex Materials Discovery, EP/C511794/1) for financial support. A.I.C. thanks the Royal Society for a University Research Fellowship.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Supplementary information
Supplementary Information
Supplementary figures S1-S5 (PDF 217 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhang, H., Hussain, I., Brust, M. et al. Aligned two- and three-dimensional structures by directional freezing of polymers and nanoparticles. Nature Mater 4, 787–793 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat1487
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat1487
This article is cited by
-
Strategies to enhance the ability of nerve guidance conduits to promote directional nerve growth
BioMedical Engineering OnLine (2024)
-
Fatigue-resistant Hydrogels
Chemical Research in Chinese Universities (2024)
-
Poly(vinyl alcohol) freeze casts with nano-additives as potential thermal insulators
Scientific Reports (2023)
-
Critical impact of nanocellulose on the synthesis of porous cellulose monolith with oriented microchannels: Structure control, mechanics, and mass transport
Nano Research (2023)
-
Comparison of characteristics of the cellulose nanocrystal aerogels aminosilane-functionalized through gas-phase reaction
Journal of Porous Materials (2022)