Search results for " interface"
showing 10 items of 1741 documents
Discotic liquid crystals at the air water interface
1991
The monolayer properties of two types of discotic liquid crystals, hexasubstituted triphenylenes 1 and azo derivatives of phloroglucinol 5, were examined. First investigations show that these discotic liquid crystals form stable monolayers. It could be shown that electron acceptors insert into the monolayer of 1. Azo discs display a packing behaviour at the monolayer that is ascribed to a side-on packing of the molecules.
Architecture, self-assembly and properties of well-defined hybrid polymers based on polyhedral oligomeric silsequioxane (POSS)
2013
Abstract Well-defined hybrid polymers based on polyhedral oligomeric silsequioxane (POSS) with a variety of architectures have been developed, including telechelic polymers, block copolymers and star-shaped polymers. The synthesis, self-assembly and properties of this kind of materials are reviewed. Well-defined POSS-containing hybrid polymers can be constructed by living polymerization techniques, such as ring-opening polymerization and living free-radical polymerization or the combination of living polymerization and coupling reactions, such as click chemistry and hydrosilylation. The self-assembly behavior of well-defined POSS-containing hybrid polymers is also described in detail. The P…
Linear–dendritic block copolymers: The state of the art and exciting perspectives
2011
Concurrent with the rapid development of both dendrimers and hyperbranched polymers, a novel class of block copolymer architectures has emerged from the combination of these dendritic architectures with linear chains, the “linear–dendritic block copolymers” (LDBCs). This review gives a comprehensive summary of the state of the art in this rapidly developing field from pioneering early work to promising recent approaches.The different strategies leading to these hybrid architectures with either perfect dendrimer/dendron building blocks or imperfect, yet more conveniently accessible hyperbranched segments, are reviewed and compared. The consequences of the unusual polymer topology for supramo…
Switching of Polymer Brushes
1999
Polymer coatings of brushlike monolayers composed of two different polymers, polystyrene and poly(2-vinylpyridine), are grafted by radical polymerization on the surface of silicon wafers. Thickness, grafting density, molecular weight of grafted chains, and the composition of the coatings were regulated by grafting time, monomer concentration, and additional initiator in solution. A typical dry film thickness is between 10 and 100 nm, and the molecular weights of the components range from 100 to 300 kg/mol. The fabricated coatings turn out to be sensitive to the composition of the environment. For instance after exposition to toluene the layer becomes hydrophobic and the top of the layer is …
Functional templates for hybrid materials with orthogonal functionality.
2009
We demonstrate an integrated approach to prepare a nanostructured, multifunctional material with mutually exclusive, orthogonal properties. The hybrid material was obtained within a single step via self-assembly in solution. It consists of TiO(2) as a functional metal oxide and an amphiphilic block copolymer, poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(triphenylamine) (PEO-PTPA). Within the materials' synthesis, the block copolymer not only acts as a templating agent but also adds an electronic functionality to the resulting hybrid material. During the synthesis, a variety of self-assembled morphologies, ranging from spheres to wires, can be created. The obtained morphology depends on the weight fraction o…
Mixed polymeric monolayers and Langmuir-Blodgett multilayers with functional low molecular weight guest compounds
2008
Abstract Mixed monolayers and Langmuir-Blodgett multilayers of functional low molecular weight guest compounds, especially nonlinear optical (NLO) dyes, within the matrix of an amphotropic spacer polymer have been prepared. The polymer matrix enabled the transfer of guest compounds not capable of self-organizing at the air-water interface by themselves. The structure of the LB multilayers and the transfer process were studied by small angle X-ray scattering and UV-visible spectroscopy. Good NLO coefficients were found in the mixed films.
Self-Diffusion in Concentrated Colloid Suspensions Studied by Digital Video Microscopy of Core−Shell Tracer Particles
1998
Optical video microscopy and digital image processing have been used to study the self-diffusion of colloidal particles with a hard-sphere potential. The colloid particles consist of cross-linked polymers and are dispersed in a good solvent to avoid aggregation. To investigate single particle motion in highly concentrated dispersions, a host−tracer system, consisting of two different kinds of polymer particles, has been designed: the host particles are made of poly-t-butylacrylate (with ethanedioldiacrylate as cross-linker) and have the same refractive index as the employed solvent, 4-fluorotoluene. The tracer particles have a core−shell structure with a polystyrene core (cross-linked with…
Nanowear on Polymer Films of Different Architecture
2007
In this paper, we describe atomic force microscope (AFM) friction experiments on different polymers. The aim was to analyze the influence of the physical architecture of the polymer on the degree and mode of wear and on the wear mode. Experiments were carried out with (1) linear polystyrene (PS) and cycloolefinic copolymers of ethylene and norbornene, which are stabilized by entanglements, (2) mechanically stretched PS, (3) polyisoprene-b-polystyrene diblock copolymers, with varying composition, (4) brush polymers consisting of a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) backbone and PS side chains, (5) PMMA and PS brushes grafted from a silicon wafer, (6) plasma-polymerized PS, and (7) chemically c…
Friction between Polymer Brushes in Good Solvent Conditions: Steady-State Sliding versus Transient Behavior
2003
Previous molecular dynamics simulations of friction between polymer brushes in relative sliding motion [Kreer, T.; Muser, M. H.; Binder, K.; Klein, J. Langmuir 2001, 17, 7804] are extended beyond steady-state conditions. We study two different protocols: (i) stop and return and (ii) stop and go. In protocol (i), the relative, lateral motion between the two surfaces is stopped abruptly and reimposed opposite to the initial direction after the system could relax for some time. Protocol (ii) is similar except that the sliding direction is maintained. In the constant-velocity steady state, the average lateral extension lc of the polymers is found to be a power law of the sliding velocity v, na…
Competitive Adsorption of Functionalized Polymers
1996
The adsorption and desorption of functionalized polystyrene-block-polybutadiene diblock copolymers from dilute solutions in toluene onto silicon wafers are investigated by means of null ellipsometry. The short polybutadiene block is functionalized by a reaction with 4-(3,5-dioxo-1,2,4-triazolidin-4-yl)benzoic acid. On the average there are six functional groups per chain. The polystyrene block does not adsorb on the surface. The adsorption depends on the length of the polystyrene block, and chains with short polystyrene blocks yield higher surface coverage than larger ones. When short and long chains are put together, the short chains displace the long ones in equilibrium conditions nearly …