Molecular‐Curvature‐Induced Spontaneous Formation of Curved and Concentric Lamellae through Nucleation |
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| Authors: | Dr Xue‐Hui Dong Bo Ni Mingjun Huang Dr Chih‐Hao Hsu Ruobing Bai Prof?Dr Wen‐Bin Zhang Prof?Dr An‐Chang Shi Prof?Dr Stephen Z D Cheng |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Polymer Science, University of Akron, Akron, OH, USA;2. Key Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry and Physics of the Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China;3. Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada |
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| Abstract: | Spontaneous formation of concentric lamellae was observed in self‐assembling giant surfactants consisting of a fluorinated polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (FPOSS) head and flexible polymer tail(s). Owing to the asymmetrical sizes of the head and tail blocks and the rectangular molecular interface, the giant surfactants assumed a truncated‐wedge‐like molecular shape, which induced morphological curvature during self‐assembly, thus resulting in the formation of curved and concentric lamellae. These curved/concentric lamellae were observed in FPOSS‐based giant surfactants with different architectures and compositions. The spontaneous curvature formation not only promotes our fundamental understanding of assembly principles, but also provides a promising and efficient approach to the fabrication of a wide range of high‐performance devices. |
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| Keywords: | concentric lamellae curvature giant surfactants polymers self-assembly |
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