One step route to the fabrication of arrays of TiO₂ nanobowls via a complementary block copolymer templating and sol-gel process

Highly dense, ordered arrays of a titania (TiO₂) nanomaterial with a bowl-shape morphology are generated by using poly(styrene-block-ethylene oxide) (PS-b-PEO) block copolymers as templates combined with a sol-gel process. Porous organic-inorganic hybrid films with titania nanodomains incorporated in the PEO domains can be produced by one step spin-coating. By manipulating the relative composition of the precursor ingredients, a simple protocol to fabricate hexagonally packed arrays of nanobowls is defined. Addition of a second inorganic precursor into the common solution leads to arrays of composite Au-TiO₂ nanobowls. Such organic-inorganic hybrids and pure titania nanostructures with controlled shape and size exhibit unique photophysical properties.