The ABC coil-rod-coil triblock molecules

consisting of biphenyl and phenyl units connected together with ether and ester bonds as a rod building block

and poly(ethylene oxide)s with DP of 7

12 and 17 and octyl or hexadecyl alkyl chains as flexible A and C coil segments

were successfully synthesized. These molecular structures were characterized by means of 1H-NMR and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS).The self-assembling behavior of these ABC coil-rod-coil triblock molecules was studied in bulk state

using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)

thermal polarized optical microscopy (POM)

and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS).The experimental results showed that molecules 1a and 2a with poly(ethylene oxide) coil chains (DP=7) and linked together with octyl or hexadecyl chains

self-assemble into an oblique columnar (Ob) and a rectangular columnar (Rect) structure in the solid state and liquid crystalline phase

respectively.While

molecules 2b

2c and 1c containing longer poly(ethylene oxide) coil chains than 1a and 2a self-assemble into the oblique columnar nano-structures in the solid state.It was found that the lengths of the poly(ethylene oxide)s and alkyl chains dramatically influence the self-assembling behavior of this coil-rod-coil molecular system.Therefore

supramolecular nano-structures of coil-rod-coil triblock copolymers can be accurately controlled via tuning the length of the coil chains connected with the rigid rod building block.