Multilayered CaCO3/block-copolymer materials via amorphous precursor to crystal transformation

Ded icated to Professor Dieter Vollhardt on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Nacre-type organic/inorganic hybrid multilayers can be fabricated through a continuous polymer­ induced liquid precursor (PILP) layer formed underneath a poly(styrene)-b/ock-poly(acrylic acid) (PS-b-PAA) block copolymer monolayer. Subsequent Layer-by-Layer transfer of block copolymer/pILP films leads to a multilayer with organic-inorganic hybrid architecture. The subsequent annealing pro­ cess transforms the PILP layers into layers of polycrystalline CaC03 • which morphologically resemble that of biogenic nacre.