Nanopatterning of substrates by self-assembly in supramolecular block copolymer monolayer films

Subtle distinction in molecular structure of flavonoids leads to vastly different coating efficiency and mechanism of metal-polyphenol networks with excellent antioxidant activities

Metal-polyphenol networks (MPNs) are of immense scientific interest because of their simple and rapid process to deposit on various substrates or particles with different shapes. However, there are rare reports on the effect of polyphenol molecular structure on coating efficiency and mechanism of MPNs. Herein, three typical flavonoid polyphenols, catechin (Cat), epigallocatechin (EGC) and procyanidin (PC), with the same skeleton (C6-C3-C6) but subtle distinction in molecular structure, were selected to build MPN coatings with ferric ions (Fe3+). And various techniques combined with the density functional theory (DFT) were applied to deeply reveal the roles of coordinative phenolic hydroxyl groups as well as noncovalent interactions (hydrogen bonding and π - π stacking) in the formation of flavonoid-based MPNs. We found that more accessible numbers of coordinative phenolic hydroxyl groups, the higher coating efficiency. In these flavonoid-based MPNs, the single-complex is the predominant during the coordinative modes between phenolic hydroxyl and Fe3+, not the previously reported mono-complex, bis-complex and/or tris-complex. Besides coordinative interaction, noncovalent interactions also contribute to MPNs formation, and hydrogen bonds prevail in the noncovalent interaction compared with π-π stacking. And these engineered MPN coatings can endow the substrate with excellent antioxidant activities. This study contributes to in-depth understanding the building mechanism of flavonoid-based MPNs, and increasing coating efficiency by choosing proper polyphenols.

Self-assembly of block copolymers on lithographically patterned template with ordered posts

Dissipative particle dynamics simulations are employed to study the self-assembly of block copolymers on a template modified with ordered posts.

Directing the assembly of gold nanoparticles with two-dimensional molecular networks

Lamellar patterns resulting from the adsorption of p-dialkoxybenzene derivatives on HOPG have been investigated as molecular templates for directing the assembly of thiol-capped gold nanoparticles (AuNP). STM characterization at the liquid-solid interface reveals the periodic arrangement of AuNP on top of the self-assembled molecular network (SAMN), spanning hundreds of nanometers. The resulting superlattices are notably different from the close-packed structures formed by spherical nanoparticles during evaporative drying. The templating effect is based on van der Waals interactions of the alkyl chains of the SAMN and AuNP, and the assembly efficiency is greatest when these chains are of similar length.

Understanding and controlling morphology formation in Langmuir-Blodgett block copolymer films using PS-P4VP and PS-P4VP/PDP

This contribution offers a comprehensive understanding of the factors that govern the morphologies of Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) monolayers of amphiphilic diblock copolymers (BCs). This is achieved by a detailed investigation of a wide range of polystyrene-poly(4-vinyl pyridine) (PS-P4VP) block copolymers, in contrast to much more limited ranges in previous studies. Parameters that are varied include the block ratios (mainly for similar total molecular weights, occasionally other total molecular weights), the presence or not of 3-n-pentadecylphenol (PDP, usually equimolar with VP, with which it hydrogen bonds), the spreading solution concentration ("low" and "high"), and the LB technique (standard vs "solvent-assisted"). Our observations are compared with previously published results on other amphiphilic diblock copolymers, which had given rise to contradictory interpretations of morphology formation. Based on the accumulated results, we re-establish early literature conclusions that three main categories of LB block copolymer morphologies are obtained depending on the block ratio, termed planar, strand, and dot regimes. The block composition boundaries in terms of mol % block content are shown to be similar for all BCs having alkyl chain substituents on the hydrophilic block (such as PS-P4VP/PDP) and are shifted to higher values for BCs with no alkyl chain substituents (such as PS-P4VP). This is attributed to the higher surface area per repeat unit of the hydrophilic block monolayer on the water surface for the former, as supported by the onset and limiting areas of the Langmuir isotherms for the BCs in the dot regime. 2D phase diagrams are discussed in terms of relative effective surface areas of the two blocks. We identify and discuss how kinetic effects on morphology formation, which have been highlighted in more recent literature, are superposed on the compositional effects. The kinetic effects are shown to depend on the morphology regime, most strongly influencing the strand and, especially, planar regimes, where they give rise to a diversity of specific structures. Besides film dewetting mechanisms, which are different when occurring in structured versus unstructured films (the latter previously discussed in the literature), kinetic influences are discussed in terms of chain association dynamics leading to depletion effects that impact on growing aggregates. These depletion effects particularly manifest themselves in more dilute spreading solutions, with higher molecular weight polymers, and in composition regimes characterized by equilibrium degrees of aggregation that are effectively infinite. It is by understanding these various kinetic influences that the diversity of structures can be classified by the three main composition-dependent regimes.