0000000000132800
AUTHOR
John F. Rabolt
Formation and Characterization of Self-Assembled Films of Thiol-Derivatized Poly(Dimethylsiloxane) on Gold
Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) copolymers containing propanethiol side chain “stickers” for forming self-assembled films on gold surfaces have been studied by various experimental techniques including ellipsometry, contact angle measurements, FT-IR, angle-dependent XPS, and ToF−SIMS. The results show that the thiol-containing side chains do not all chemisorb to the gold surfaces. In addition, the concentration of these sticker units was found to have a dominant effect on the polymer film thickness, the surface wetting properties, and the orientation of the PDMS backbone. Ab initio calculations reveal that the IR-active PDMS Si−O stretching bands can be used as indications of chain orientatio…
Studies of Molecular Orientation and Order in Self-Assembled Semifluorinated n-Alkanethiols: Single and Dual Component Mixtures
The structure, orientation and morphology of self-assembled monolayers of a semifluorinated n-alkanethiol, F(CF2)8(CH2)11SH (F8H11SH), have been investigated by polarized IR, angular dependent XPS, ToF-SIMS, contact angle, and ellipsometric measurements. The orientation of the all trans hydrocarbon segment was found to be tilted much less from the surface normal than the 30° tilt found for octadecanethiol. This has been attributed to the steric constraints imposed by the larger cross section fluorocarbon helices that subsequently are tilted from the surface normal. In addition, studies of dual component mixtures of F8H11SH/F8SH and F8SH/F8H2SH have revealed that competitive adsorption occur…