Mapping the Interfacial Chemistry and Structure of Partially Fluorinated Bottlebrush Polymers and Their Linear Analogues

Squeezing Out Interfacial Solvation: The Role of Hydrogen-Bonding in the Structural and Orientational Freedom of Molecular Self-Assembly

Bioinspired membrane molecules with improved physical properties and enhanced stability can serve as functional models for conventional lipid or amphiphilic species. Importantly, these molecules can also provide new insights into emergent phenomena that manifest during self-assembly at interfaces. Here, we elucidate the structural response and mechanistic steps underlying the self-assembly of the amphiphilic, charged oligodimethylsiloxane imidazolium cation (ODMS-MIM⁺) at the air-aqueous interface using Langmuir trough methods with coincident surface-specific vibrational sum-frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy. We find evidence for a new compression-induced desolvation step that precedes commonly known disordered-to-ordered phase transitions to form nanoscopic assemblies. The experimental data was supported by atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to provide a detailed mechanistic picture underlying the assembly and the role of water in these phase transitions. The sensitivity of the hydrophobic ODMS tail conformations to compression─owing to distinct water-ODMS interactions and tail-tail solvation properties─offers new strategies for the design of interfaces that can be further used to develop soft-matter electronics and low-dimensional materials using physical and chemical controls.

Revealing the Molecular Physics of Lattice Self-Assembly by Vibrational Hyperspectral Imaging

Lattice self-assemblies (LSAs), which mimic protein assemblies, were studied using a new nonlinear vibrational imaging technique called vibrational sum-frequency generation (VSFG) microscopy. This technique successfully mapped out the mesoscopic morphology, microscopic geometry, symmetry, and ultrafast dynamics of an LSA formed by β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The spatial imaging also revealed correlations between these different physical properties. Such knowledge shed light on the functions and mechanical properties of LSAs. In this Feature Article, we briefly introduce the fundamental principles of the VSFG microscope and then discuss the in-depth molecular physics of the LSAs revealed by this imaging technique. The application of the VSFG microscope to the artificial LSAs also paved the way for an alternative approach to studying the structure-dynamic-function relationships of protein assemblies, which were essential for life and difficult to study because of their various and complicated interactions. We expect that the hyperspectral VSFG microscope could be broadly applied to many noncentrosymmetric soft materials.