A nanopatterned template for use in manufacturing nanoscale objects. The nanopatterned template contains a
nanoporous thin film with a periodically ordered porous
geomorphology which is made from a process comprising the steps of: (a) using a block copolymerization process to prepare a block
copolymer comprising first and second
polymer blocks, the first and second
polymer blocks being incompatible with each other; (b) forming a thin film under conditions such that the first
polymer blocks form into a periodically ordered topology; and (c) selectively degrading the first polymer blocks to cause the thin film to become a
nanoporous material with a periodically ordered porous
geomorphology. In a preferred embodiment, the block
copolymer is poly(
styrene)-poly(L-
lactide) (PS-PLLA) chiral block
copolymer, the first polymer is poly(L-
lactide), and the second polymer is
polystyrene. Experimental results show that the first polymer blocks can be formed into a hexagonal cylindrical
geomorphology with its axis perpendicular to a surface of the thin film. After
hydrolysis to selectively degrade the first polymer blocks, a thin film having a series of repeated nanoscale hexagonal-cylindrical channels is obtained.