Polymer nanodisks by collapse of nanocapsules

It is an important challenge to make disk-like polymeric nanostructures. Herein we report a facile method for preparing polymer nanodisks by self-collapse of nanocapsules self-assembled from a statistical copolymer after partial hydrolysis. We find that partial hydrolysis of the statistical copolymer is crucial for the formation of nanodisks as it affords a suitable rigidity for the membrane of nanocapsules. The nanodisk structure has been confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) studies with a thickness of 6.3±0.2 nm. Overall, our results demonstrated a new method for making disk-like nano-objects.