Abstract: With poly(ethylene-co-butylene)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) block copolymer(PHB-PEO) as the template, mesostructured Y₂O₃ and Nd₂O₃ thin films were successfully synthesized through the well-documented evaporation-induced self-assembly approach. The obtained samples calcined at different temperatures were characterized in detail by using small- and wide-angle X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy(TEM). The results show that our presented Y₂O₃ and Nd₂O₃ thin filmspossessed an Im3m body-centered-cubic(BCC) array of distorted spherical pores with an average p
ore diameter of about 11.5 and 12.5 nm, respectively. Furthermore, the partial crystalline pore walls can stabilize at 450 ℃. The investigation also indicated that a rapid self-assembly process is necessary to generate the mesoporous Y₂O₃ and Nd₂O₃ thin films. It can be achieved by the utilization of PHB-PEO template and the fast dip-coating process of evaporation-induced self-assembly.

Key words: Y₂O₃, Nd₂O₃, Mesoporous thin films, Block copolymer template, Evaporation-induced self-assembly