Versatile polymer film synthesis method invented

Forming perfect porous polymer films is not enough; they need both large and small pores, and the process of making them needs to be simple, versatile and repeatable. Creatively combining already established techniques, Cornell materials researchers have devised a so-called hierarchical porous polymer film synthesis method that may help make these materials useful for applications ranging from catalysis to bioengineering. The research team was led by Ulrich Wiesner, the Spencer T. Olin Professor of Engineering, and the experiments were completed by graduate student Hiroaki Sai, first author on a paper reporting the results online , Aug. The research collaboration drew on the expertise of other Cornell scientists in materials growth and characterization. The hierarchically structured polymers are porous at both micronand nano-length scales. This provides both high flux, which means materials can flow through it efficiently, as well as high surface area - both important, for example, in rapid catalytic conversions. The materials were self-assembled from a series of block copolymers, which are large molecules comprising "blocks" of repeating units.