Facile fabrication of nano-, helical structure PMMA polymer with chiral nematic liquid crystal and AAO double templates

Nanostructured helical polymers possess the desirable properties of nano-, helical materials and hold great promise in many fields. Template method is one of the easiest ways to control the shape and size of nanostructure materials. However, the nano- and helical polymers obtained using double template methods have rarely been studied. Here, chiral nematic liquid crystal (CLC) material and nanostructure anodically oxidised aluminium (AAO) were employed as templates to fabricate a novel nano-, helical structure PMMA polymer. In the preparation process, methyl methacrylate monomer was polymerised in the CLC template. Then, the polymer molecular infiltrated into the nanopores of AAO template by self-assembly technology. The morphology and molecular structure of the nano-, helical polymer were demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy. The circular dichroism (CD) spectrum results demonstrated that the nano-, helical polymer CD curve was similar to that of CLC. Helical conformation of the obtained polymer was identified efficiently. The strategy for preparing nano-, helical polymers was highly efficient and low cost since it took the advantages of CLC and AAO templates. Thus, numerous advanced materials would be accessible by this approach.