Supercritical carbon dioxide swelling of fluorinated and hydrocarbon surfactant templates in mesoporous silica thin films

Synthesis of Branch Fluorinated Cationic Surfactant and Surface Properties

A novel fluorinated quaternary ammonium salt cationic surfactant N,N,N-trimethyl-2-[[4-[[3,4,4,4-tetrafluoro-2-[1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-1-(trifluoromethyl)ethyl]-1,3-bis(tri-fluoromethyl)-1-buten-1-yl]oxy]-benzoyl]amino]-iodide (FQAS) was synthesized successfully, and its structure was characterized by FTIR,1H-NMR,19F-NMR, and MS. The surface activities of FQAS and the effect of temperature, electrolyte, and combination with hydrocarbon surfactant were investigated. The results showed that FQAS exhibited excellent surface activity and combination with hydrocarbon surfactant.

Morphology control in mesoporous carbon films using solvent vapor annealing

Ordered mesoporous (2-50 nm) carbon films were fabricated using cooperative self-assembly of a phenolic resin oligomer with a novel block copolymer template (poly(styrene-block-N,N-dimethyl-n-octadecylamine p-styrenesulfonate), (PS-b-PSS-DMODA)) synthesized by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. Due to the high Tg of the PS segment and the strong interactions between the phenolic resin and the PSS-DMODA, the segmental rearrangement is kinetically hindered relative to the cross-linking rate of the phenolic resin, which inhibits long-range ordering and yields a poorly ordered mesoporous carbon with a broad pore size distribution. However, relatively short exposure (2 h) to controlled vapor pressures of methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) yields significant improvements in the long-range ordering and narrows the pore size distribution. The average pore size increases as the solvent vapor pressure during annealing increases, but an upper limit of p/p0 = 0.85 exists above which the films dewet rapidly during solvent vapor annealing. This approach can be extended using mesityl oxide, which has similar solvent qualities to MEK, but is not easily removed by ambient air drying after solvent annealing. This residual solvent can impact the morphology that develops during cross-linking of the films. These results illustrate the ability to fine-tune the mesostructure of ordered mesoporous carbon films through simple changes in the processing without any compositional changes in the initial cast film.

Processing of surfactant templated nano-structured silica films using compressed carbon dioxide as interpreted from in situ fluorescence spectroscopy

The local environment and dynamics of compressed carbon dioxide (CO(2)) penetration in surfactant templated silica film synthesis is interpreted from the in situ fluorescence emission spectra of pyrene (Py) and a modified pyrene probe. Pyrene emission in cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and cetylpyridinium bromide (CPB) templated silica films is monitored immediately after casting and during processing with gaseous and supercritical (sc) CO(2) (17-172 bar, 45 °C). The solvatochromic emission spectra of pyrene in CTAB templated films suggest CO(2) penetration in both the micelle interface and its interior. An anchored derivative of pyrene, 1-pyrenehexadecanoic acid (C(16)-pyr), is established for probing CPB films, where the pyrene moiety is preferentially oriented toward the micelle interior, thus limiting quenching by the pyridinium headgroup of CPB. CO(2) processing of CPB templated silica films results in an increase in the time scale for probe mobility, suggesting an increased time scale of silica condensation through CO(2) processing. The mobility of C(16)-pyr increases with pressure from gaseous to sc CO(2) processing and persists for over 5 h for sc CO(2) processing at 172 bar and 45 °C compared to about 25 min for the unprocessed film. The delivery of CO(2) soluble solutes to specific regions of surfactant templated mesoporous materials is examined via the nonradiative energy transfer (NRET) between pyrene and CO(2)-solubilized naphthalene.