AFM characterization of spin-coated multilayered dry lipid films prepared from aqueous vesicle suspensions

We present a detailed AFM study on multilayered dry lipid films prepared from aqueous vesicle suspensions. Different preparation techniques were applied in order to optimize the preparation of homogeneous lipid films of various film thicknesses. Suspensions of preformed DOPC/DPPC vesicles were adsorbed onto indium tin oxide-coated glass coverslips, a substrate also commonly employed for the formation of giant liposomes. We found that the homogeneity of the lipid films could substantially be improved when applying a spin-coating step during the film preparation. These films were much more homogeneous than those prepared by conventional drop-casting and in addition the film thickness could be controlled. When using a combination of vesicle adsorption and spin-coating the quality and thickness of the films depended crucially on the lipid concentration of the vesicle suspension, the adsorption temperature and the adsorption time. For lipid films prepared by direct spin-coating the lipid concentration and the applied spin-coating sequence were critical parameters for the quality and thickness of the deposited lipid films.     

Two-dimensional self-assembly of 1-pyrylphosphonic acid: transfer of stacks on structured surface

Strong hydrogen bonding and pi-pi stacking between 1-pyrylphosphonic acid (PYPA) molecules were exploited to create self-assembled two-dimensional supramolecular structures. Polycrystalline films of these laminate crystalline PYPA bilayers were easily deposited onto the solid supports through a simple spin-coating technique. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-vis absorption, and fluorescence spectroscopy reveal that processing parameters, such as solvent, concentration, and surface of the substrate, are critical factors in determining the final morphology of the stacked film. Robust laminate structures could be obtained only when short alkyl chain protic solvents (methanol or ethanol) and a nonhydrophobic substrate surface were used. Polycrystalline films were formed through the nucleation and growth of PYPA molecules into laminate structures at the air/solvent interface before they land on the substrate during the spin-coating process. These films possess good mechanical properties and were easily transferred onto a SiO2/Si substrate that was patterned with Au electrodes without breaking their crystalline structures. The successful transfer of the laminate crystals allows us to probe their electrical properties through a field effect transistor device. A gating effect on the charge transport of the stacked films indicates that PYPA laminate crystal possesses p-typed semiconductor characteristics.     

Uniaxial alignment of poly(3-hexylthiophene) nanofibers by zone-casting approach

The preparation of large area coverage of films with uniaxially aligned poly(3-hexylthiophene)(P3HT) nanofibers by using zone-casting approach is reported.The length and the orientation of the nanofibers are defined by the solubility of the solvent,the P3HT molecular weight and the substrate temperature.The length of the oriented nanofibers could be increased from 1 μm to more than 10 μm by adding poor solvent into the P3HT solution.It is found that for P3HT of relatively low molecular weight,a solvent with relatively low solubility has to be chosen to get the oriented film.While for the high molecular weight P3HT,the solvent with a relatively high solubility has to be used.The well-aligned film could be obtained because of the solute concentration gradient in the region where the critical concentration is reached during the zone-casting process.Particularly,the solvent evaporation rate and crystallization rate must be chosen properly to satisfy the stationary conditions above,which were controlled by an appropriate choice of solvent and substrate temperature.The film prepared by zone-casting approach had microcrystalline P3HT domains with more inter-chain order than spin-coating film.Meanwhile,the P3HT π-π stacking direction was parallel to the alignment direction of the nanofibers.     

Immobilization of Tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum onto P4VP polymer thin films by UV irradiation cross-linking

We report a novel method for the immobilization of Tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq₃) onto poly(4-vinylpyridine) (P4VP) thin polymer films by UV irradiation cross-linking. The polymer films were prepared by spin-coating of P4VP onto cleaned silicon wafer surface followed by UV irradiation. The thicknesses of the polymer thin films were measured by ellipsometry with different irradiation times. The immobilization of Alq₃, orientation and the surface activity were followed using photoluminescence and UV-visible spectroscopy. The surface morphology was investigated by using field emission scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Patterning of Alq₃ on P4VP film was obtained using photolithography technique. Our experimental results show that the cross-linked P4VP thin film is a universal surface modifier.     

Nanostructured ion-conductive films: Layered assembly of a side-chain liquid-crystalline polymer with an imidazolium ionic moiety

An ion-conductive mesogenic monomer with an imidazolium ionic moiety has been designed to obtain self-assembled materials forming ionic layers. Self-standing polymer films are prepared by in situ photopolymerization of the monomer that forms homeotropic monodomain on a normal glass substrate in the smectic A phase. Macroscopically oriented, layered nanostructures are formed in the film. The ionic conductivity parallel to the smectic layer has been measured for the oriented film. In the smectic A phase at 150 °C, the magnitude of conductivity is about 10⁻² S cm⁻¹. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 3486–3492, 2003     

Inverse opal photonic crystal of chalcogenide glass by solution processing

Chalcogenide opal and inverse opal photonic crystals were successfully fabricated by low-cost and low-temperature solution-based process, which is well developed in polymer films processing. Highly ordered silica colloidal crystal films were successfully infilled with nano-colloidal solution of the high refractive index As(30)S(70) chalcogenide glass by using spin-coating method. The silica/As-S opal film was etched in HF acid to dissolve the silica opal template and fabricate the inverse opal As-S photonic crystal. Both, the infilled silica/As-S opal film (Δn ~ 0.84 near λ=770 nm) and the inverse opal As-S photonic structure (Δn ~ 1.26 near λ=660 nm) had significantly enhanced reflectivity values and wider photonic bandgaps in comparison with the silica opal film template (Δn ~ 0.434 near λ=600 nm). The key aspects of opal film preparation by spin-coating of nano-colloidal chalcogenide glass solution are discussed. The solution fabricated "inorganic polymer" opal and the inverse opal structures exceed photonic properties of silica or any organic polymer opal film. The fabricated photonic structures are proposed for designing novel flexible colloidal crystal laser devices, photonic waveguides and chemical sensors.     

FABRICATION OF HIGHLY HYDROPHOBIC FILMS OF POLY（3-HEXADECYL PYRROLE） NANOPARTICLES BY LANGMUIR-BLODGETT TECHNIQUE

Thin films of poly(3-hexadecyl pyrrole) (P3HDP) nanoparticles have been fabricated by using Langmuir-Blodgett film deposition technique. The structures and morphology of the films were studied by using infrared spectroscopy, scanning and transmission microscopes. The experimental results demonstrated that the nanoparticles were formed by self-assembling P3HDP at air-water surface. The water contact angles of these films with different deposition layers were measured to be as high as 110°.     

Synergistic Effects of Solvent Vapor Assisted Spin-coating and Thermal Annealing on Enhancing the Carrier Mobility of Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Field-effect Transistors

Poly(3-hexylthiophene)(P3 HT) thin films, obtained by normal spin-coating and solvent vapor assisted spin-coating(SVASP) before and after thermal annealing(TA), and the corresponding devices were prepared to unravel the microstructure-property relationship, which is of great importance for the development of organic electronics. When SVASP-TA films were used as the active layers of the organic field-effect transistors,a hole mobility up to 0.38 cm²·V^–1·s^–1 was ac...     

Instabilities during the formation of electroactive polymer thin films

The solvent-induced film structure of poly(n-vinyl carbazole) (PVK) thin films on indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated glass was examined. PVK thin films were prepared via spin-coating using five different solvents. We investigated the relationship between the solvent characteristics and film properties, including surface roughness and structure, film thickness, and density. The spin-coated polymer thin films are not in thermodynamic equilibrium; rather, the film properties are affected by the dynamics of the spin-coating process. We found that water present in tetrahydrofuran (THF) induces dewetting of PVK films during the spin-coating process. Solvents with a high evaporation rate lead to high surface roughness due to Marangoni convection. The results show that the surface roughness and structure of the films are dominated by the dynamics of the film formation process, rather than thermodynamic interactions between the polymer and solvents.     

Effects of spin-coating speed on the morphology and photovoltaic performance of the diketopyrrolopyrrole-based terpolymer

Polymer solar cells（PSCs） were fabricated by combining a diketopyrrolopyrrole-based terpolymer（PTBT-HTID-DPP） as the electron donor, and [6,6]-phenyl C₆₁ butyric acid methyl ester(PC₆₁BM) as the electron acceptor, and the power conversion efficiency（PCE） of 4.31% has been achieved under AM 1.5 G(100 m W cm^-2) illumination condition via optimizing the polymer/PC₆₁BM ratio, the variety of solvent and the spin-coating speed. The impact of the spin-coating speed on the photovoltaic performance of the PSCs has been investigated by revealing the effects of the spin-coating speed on the morphology and the absorption spectra of the polymer/PC₆₁BM blend films. When the thickness of the blend films are adjusted by spin-coating a fixed concentration with different spin-coating speeds, the blend film prepared at a lower spin-coating speed shows a stronger absorption per unit thickness, and the correspond device shows higher IPCE value in the longer-wavelength region. Under the conditions of similar thickness, the blend film prepared at a lower spin-coating speed forms a more uniform microphase separation and smaller domain size which leads to a higher absorption intensity per unit thickness of the blend film in long wavenumber band, a larger short-circuit current density(J_sc) and a higher power conversion efficiency（PCE） of the PSC device. Noteworthily, it was found that spin-coating speed is not only a way to control the thickness of active layer but also an influencing factor on morphology and photovoltaic performance for the diketopyrrolopyrrole-based terpolymer.     

聚酰亚胺多层膜的制备及其在非线性光学中的应用

报道了一种通过旋涂制备NLO聚合物多层膜的方法.紫外-可见吸收光谱及膜的厚度表征说明,在所得多层膜的结构中,聚合物单层膜的厚度可以较好地控制在100~200nm之间,所得含有5个双层的NLO多层膜(厚度1.6μm)具有良好的结构均一性,光学显微镜下没有观察到明显的结构缺陷.与单层具有较大厚度的NLO聚合物薄膜(如2~4μm)相比,所得聚合物多层膜可以允许掺杂更多的发色团而不发生相分离.     

Effect of thermal annealing of poly(3-octylthiophene) films covered stainless steel on corrosion properties

The effect of thermal annealing of poly(3-octylthiophene) (P3OT) coatings on the corrosion inhibition of stainless steel in an NaCl solution was investigated. P3OT was synthesized by direct oxidation of the 3-octylthiophene monomer with ferric chloride (FeCl₃) as oxidant. P3OT films were deposited by drop-casting technique onto 304 stainless steel electrode (304SS). 304SS coated with P3OT films were thermally annealed during 30 h at different temperatures (55°C, 80°C, and 100°C). The corrosion resistance of stainless steel coated with P3OT in 0.5 M NaCl aqueous solution at room temperature was investigated by using potentiodynamic polarization curves, linear polarization resistance, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results indicated that the thermal treatment at 80°C and 100°C of P3OT films improved the corrosion resistance of the stainless steel in NaCl solution; the speed of corrosion diminished in an order of magnitude with regard to the 304SS. In order to study the temperature effect in the morphology of the coatings before and after the corrosive environment and correlate it with corrosion protection, atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used. Morphological study showed that when the films are heated, the grain size increased and a denser surface was obtained, which benefited the barrier properties of the film.     

聚(3-己基)噻吩薄膜中电荷传导的研究

对两种具有相同化学结构的聚(3-己基)噻吩膜进行了电荷传导研究以检验膜的结构对载流子迁移率的影响. 一种膜是由3-己基噻吩单体经电化学合成直接制备的膜(原位生长膜); 另一种膜是将原位生长膜溶于三氯甲烷后重新滴涂而成的(滴涂膜). 研究表明, 虽然两种膜的制备方法不一样, 但在最低(0.02%)和较高(20%～30%)掺杂率下两膜中的载流子迁移率相一致; 然而在中等掺杂率区域, 两膜中的载流子迁移率明显不同. 对于原位生长膜, 载流子迁移率在低掺杂区域几乎保持不变, 当掺杂率大于1%后开始上升; 而在滴涂膜中, 随着掺杂率的增加, 迁移率先下降然后迅速升高. 上述两种迁移率变化特征分别与以前研究中观察到的电化学合成高分子膜和化学合成高分子旋涂或滴涂膜中迁移率的变化特征相一致, 表明了迁移率随掺杂率变化特征的改变是由膜的结构变化而引起的     

Superhydrophobic and lipophobic properties of self-organized honeycomb and pincushion structures

This report describes the simple preparation of superhydrophobic and lipophobic surfaces by self-organization. Microporous polymer films of a fluorinated polymer with hexagonally arranged pores were prepared by casting from solution under humid conditions. Hexagonally packed water microdroplets were formed by evaporative cooling on the surface of the casting solution. After solvent evaporation, a honeycomb-patterned polymer film was formed with the water droplet array acting as a template; the water droplets themselves evaporated soon after the solvent. Two porous polymer layers were stacked vertically, separated by pillars at the hexagon vertexes. After peeling off the top layer using adhesive tape, a pincushion-like structure was obtained. Here, we show that superhydrophobic behavior was achieved, with the maximum contact angle, 170 degrees, observed using these pincushion structures. Theoretical calculations fit the experimental results well. The lipophobic properties of the films are also discussed.     

Two-dimensionally well-ordered multilayer structures in thin films of a brush polypeptide

In this study, we report the first production of two-dimensionally well-ordered molecular multilayers (i.e., with a well-defined molecular lamellar structure) based on the antiparallel beta-sheet chain conformation in thin films of a brush polypeptide, poly(S-n-hexadecyl-dl-homocysteine) (PHHC), through the use of a simple spin-coating process and the quantitative structural and property analysis of the thin films using a grazing incidence X-ray scattering technique combined with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. These analyses provide detailed information about the structure and molecular conformation of the self-assembled lamellae in the PHHC thin film, which is not easily obtained using conventional techniques. Moreover, we used the in situ measurements carried out at various temperatures and the data analyses to establish mechanisms for the evolution of the self-assembled lamellar structures in the film and for their melting. In addition, we propose molecular structure models of the PHHC polymer molecules in the thin film at various temperatures.     

Effect of Solvent Annealing Temperature on Crystal Modifications and Phase Transition Behavior of Regioregular Poly（3-octylthiophene）

In present study, the effect of the solvent annealing temperature on the crystal modifications and the phase transition behavior of the subsequently dried poly（3-octylthiophene） （P3OT） film has been investigated by the combination of DSC, WAXD and FTIR techniques. When chloroform is employed as the solvent, it is unexpectedly found that form I and form II crystal modifications of P3OT could be respectively obtained by room temperature and low temperature annealing. Comparing to the mostly used solvent reported for preparing form II, i.e. carbon disulfide （CS2） which is toxic and corrosive, chloroform is less toxic and corrosive and more suitable for solution processing of P3OT. Therefore, this finding provides an alternative way to obtain form II. By temperature dependent IR spectroscopy, the structural evolution of P3OT during the form II to form I phase transition process has also been studied in detail.     

旋涂-逐层自组装制备光响应性聚丙烯酸酯类偶氮聚电解质多层膜

偶氮聚电解质的静电逐层自组装是实现偶氮聚合物功能性的重要手段,是制备诸如光存储材料、光开关材料和非线性光学材料等的新途径.因此,光响应性偶氮聚电解质的静电逐层自组装已引起了人们的广泛关注.静电逐层自组装通常在水溶液中进行,即通过基材在在水溶液中的交替浸渍和逐层     

利用呼吸图案法制备聚(苯乙烯-b-丙烯腈)有序多孔薄膜

以自制的聚(苯乙烯-b-丙烯腈)(PS-b-PAN)嵌段共聚物为成膜材料, 采用呼吸图案法制备了有序多孔薄膜, 采用扫描电子显微镜(SEM)对薄膜形貌进行了分析, 研究了聚合物浓度、溶剂种类及共聚物结构对薄膜结构的影响. 结果表明, 薄膜表层为多孔结构, 且孔为圆形、以六方阵列形式排列; 薄膜表层下面是蜂窝状结构.以三氯甲烷(CHCl₃)为溶剂时, 在较高浓度下制备的薄膜表层孔间距较大, 蜂窝结构尺寸较小, 且形成了多层结构. 与CHCl₃为溶剂时相比, 挥发速度较快的二硫化碳(CS₂)作溶剂时制备的多孔薄膜有序性较好, 薄膜表层孔径和孔间距均较大, 蜂窝结构尺寸较小. 以没有PAN链段的聚苯乙烯大分子引发剂(PS-Cl)为成膜材料时, 制备的薄膜表层没有形成多孔结构, 而是形成了窝状结构. 同时, 通过对薄膜表层晕的研究证明了多孔薄膜表层缺陷是由水滴处于液膜下较深的位置造成的.     

Surface phase separation, dewetting feature size, and crystal morphology in thin films of polystyrene/poly(ε-caprolactone) blend

Thin films of polystyrene (PS)/poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) blends were prepared by spin-coating and characterized by tapping mode force microscopy (AFM). Effects of the relative concentration of PS in polymer solution on the surface phase separation and dewetting feature size of the blend films were systematically studied. Due to the coupling of phase separation, dewetting, and crystallization of the blend films with the evaporation of solvent during spin-coating, different size of PS islands decorated with various PCL crystal structures including spherulite-like, flat-on individual lamellae, and flat-on dendritic crystal were obtained in the blend films by changing the film composition. The average distance of PS islands was shown to increase with the relative concentration of PS in casting solution. For a given ratio of PS/PCL, the feature size of PS appeared to increase linearly with the square of PS concentration while the PCL concentration only determined the crystal morphology of the blend films with no influence on the upper PS domain features. This is explained in terms of vertical phase separation and spinodal dewetting of the PS rich layer from the underlying PCL rich layer, leading to the upper PS dewetting process and the underlying PCL crystalline process to be mutually independent.     

Hybrid Silica Gel-Polytetrahydrofuran Thin Films

The sol-gel process has been used to prepare hybrid silica gel-polytetrahydrofuran (PTHF) thin films, using tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) as the precursor. The films were prepared by spin-coating, and characterized by profilometry, transmission FTIR and SEM. Film properties were conditioned by the preparation procedure as well as by the initial recipe, namely the solvent, polymer content and molecular weight. Evidence was obtained of the participation of the polymer in the condensation step of the process, interacting by hydrogen bonds with hydroxyl groups of the silicate network.