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Piccinini E, González GA, Azzaroni O, Battaglini F. Mass and charge transport in highly mesostructured polyelectrolyte/electroactive-surfactant multilayer films. J Colloid Interface Sci 2021; 581:595-607. [PMID: 32810726 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2020.07.060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2020] [Revised: 07/10/2020] [Accepted: 07/11/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
HYPOTHESIS Dimensionally stable electroactive films displaying spatially addressed redox sites is still a challenging goal due to gel-like structure. Polyelectrolyte and surfactants can yield highly mesostructured films using simple buildup strategies as layer-by-layer. The use of redox modified surfactants is expected to introduce order and an electroactive response in thin films. EXPERIMENTS The assembly of polyacrylic acid and different combinations of redox-modified and unmodified hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide yields highly structured and electroactive thin films. The growth, viscoelastic properties, mass, and electron transport of these films were studied by combining electrochemical and quartz crystal balance with dissipation experiments. FINDINGS Our results show that the films are highly rigid and poorly hydrated. The mass and charge transport reveal that the ingress (egress) of the counter ions during the electrochemical oxidation (reduction) is accompanied with a small amount of water, which is close to their hydration sphere. Thus, the generated mesostructured films present an efficient charge transport with negligible changes in their structures during the electron transfer process. The control over the meso-organization and its stability represents a promising tool in the construction of devices where the vectorial transfer of electrons, or ions, is required.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esteban Piccinini
- Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas (INIFTA) -Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata - CONICET, Suc. 4, CC 16, La Plata, Argentina
| | - Graciela A González
- INQUIMAE, Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Analítica y Química Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires - CONICET, Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellón 2 C1428EHA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Omar Azzaroni
- Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas (INIFTA) -Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata - CONICET, Suc. 4, CC 16, La Plata, Argentina.
| | - Fernando Battaglini
- INQUIMAE, Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Analítica y Química Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires - CONICET, Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellón 2 C1428EHA, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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Vadodaria SS, He Y, Mills T, Wildman R. Fabrication of surfactant-polyelectrolyte complex using valvejet 3D printing-aided colloidal self assembly. Colloids Surf A Physicochem Eng Asp 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.colsurfa.2020.124914] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Piccinini E, Ceolín M, Battaglini F, Azzaroni O. Mesostructured Electroactive Thin Films Through Layer-by-Layer Assembly of Redox Surfactants and Polyelectrolytes. Chempluschem 2020; 85:1616-1622. [PMID: 32432385 DOI: 10.1002/cplu.202000358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2020] [Revised: 05/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Electroactive thin films are an important element in the devices devoted to energy conversion, actuators, and molecular electronics, among others. Their build-up by the layer-by-layer technique is an attractive choice since a fine control over the thickness and composition can be achieved. However, most of the assemblies described in the literature show a lack of internal order, and their thicknesses change upon oxidation-state alterations. In this work, we describe the formation of layer-by-layer assemblies of redox surfactants and polyelectrolytes that leads to the construction of mesoscale organized electroactive films. In contrast to thin films prepared with traditional redox polymers, here, the redox surfactant does not only allow the control of the film meso-organization (from 2D hexagonal to circular hexagonal phases) but it also allows the control of the number and position of the redox centers. Finally, these films show high stability and a negligible structural deformation under redox-state changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esteban Piccinini
- Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas (INIFTA), Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP), CONICET, Diagonal 113 y 64, 1900, La Plata, Argentina
| | - Marcelo Ceolín
- Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas (INIFTA), Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP), CONICET, Diagonal 113 y 64, 1900, La Plata, Argentina
| | - Fernando Battaglini
- INQUIMAE (CONICET), Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Analítica y Química Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellón 2, C1428EHA, Buenos, Aires, Argentina
| | - Omar Azzaroni
- Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas (INIFTA), Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP), CONICET, Diagonal 113 y 64, 1900, La Plata, Argentina
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Piccinini E, Tuninetti JS, Irigoyen Otamendi J, Moya SE, Ceolín M, Battaglini F, Azzaroni O. Surfactants as mesogenic agents in layer-by-layer assembled polyelectrolyte/surfactant multilayers: nanoarchitectured "soft" thin films displaying a tailored mesostructure. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2018; 20:9298-9308. [PMID: 29616241 DOI: 10.1039/c7cp08203g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Interfacial supramolecular architectures displaying mesoscale organized components are of fundamental importance for developing materials with novel or optimized properties. Nevertheless, engineering the multilayer assembly of different building blocks onto a surface and exerting control over the internal mesostructure of the resulting film is still a challenging task in materials science. In the present work we demonstrate that the integration of surfactants (as mesogenic agents) into layer-by-layer (LbL) assembled polyelectrolyte multilayers offers a straightforward approach to control the internal film organization at the mesoscale level. The mesostructure of films constituted of hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide, CTAB, and polyacrylic acid, PAA (of different molecular weights), was characterized as a function of the number of assembled layers. Structural characterization of the multilayered films by grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS), showed the formation of mesostructured composite polyelectrolyte assemblies. Interestingly, the (PAA/CTA)n assemblies prepared with low PAA molecular weight presented different mesostructural regimes which were dependent on the number of assembled layers: a lamellar mesophase for the first bilayers, and a hexagonal circular mesophase for n ≥ 7. This interesting observation was explained in terms of the strong interaction between the substrate and the first layers leading to a particular mesophase. As the film increases its thickness, the prevalence of this strong interaction decreases and the supramolecular architecture exhibits a "bulk" mesophase. Finally, we demonstrated that the molecular weight of the polyelectrolyte has a considerable impact on the meso-organization for the (PAA/CTA)n assemblies. We consider that these studies open a path to new rational methodologies to construct "nanoarchitectured" polyelectrolyte multilayers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esteban Piccinini
- Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas (INIFTA) - Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata - CONICET, Suc. 4, CC 16, La Plata, Argentina.
| | - Jimena S Tuninetti
- Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas (INIFTA) - Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata - CONICET, Suc. 4, CC 16, La Plata, Argentina.
| | - Joseba Irigoyen Otamendi
- Soft Matter Nanotechnology Group, CIC BiomaGUNE. Paseo Miramón 182, 20009 San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Spain
| | - Sergio E Moya
- Soft Matter Nanotechnology Group, CIC BiomaGUNE. Paseo Miramón 182, 20009 San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Spain
| | - Marcelo Ceolín
- Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas (INIFTA) - Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata - CONICET, Suc. 4, CC 16, La Plata, Argentina.
| | - Fernando Battaglini
- INQUIMAE, Departamento de Química Inorgánica, Analítica y Química Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellón 2 C1428EHA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Omar Azzaroni
- Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas (INIFTA) - Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata - CONICET, Suc. 4, CC 16, La Plata, Argentina.
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Ferreira GA, Loh W. Liquid crystalline nanoparticles formed by oppositely charged surfactant-polyelectrolyte complexes. Curr Opin Colloid Interface Sci 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cocis.2017.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Gustavsson C, Piculell L. Isotherms and Kinetics of Water Vapor Sorption/Desorption for Surface Films of Polyion-Surfactant Ion Complex Salts. J Phys Chem B 2016; 120:6778-90. [PMID: 27327628 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b02983] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Thin films of "complex salts" (CS = ionic surfactants with polymeric counterions) have recently been shown to respond to humidity changes in ambient air by changing their liquid crystalline structure. We here report isotherms and kinetics of water sorption/desorption for ∼10-100 μm films of alkyltrimethylammonium polyacrylate CS, measured in a dynamic gravimetric vapor sorption instrument over a 0-95% relative humidity (RH) range. The sorption per ion pair was similar to that observed for common ionomers. A kinetic model for the water exchange is presented, assuming that the "external" transport between the vapor reservoir and the film surface is rate-determining. The model predicts that the water content, after a small stepwise change of the reservoir RH, should vary exponentially with time, with a time constant proportional to both the slope of the sorption isotherm and the film thickness. These predictions were confirmed for our films over large RH ranges, and the external mass transfer coefficient in our setup was calculated from the experimental data. Expressions derived for the Biot number (ratio of characteristic times for internal and external water transport) for the considered limiting case strongly indicate that external water transport should quite generally affect, or even dominate, the measured kinetics for similarly thin hydrated films.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte Gustavsson
- Physical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Lund University , Box 124, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden
| | - Lennart Piculell
- Physical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Lund University , Box 124, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden
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Björklund S, Kocherbitov V. Hydration-Induced Phase Transitions in Surfactant and Lipid Films. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2016; 32:5223-5232. [PMID: 27124238 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.6b00452] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
For several surfactant and lipid systems, it is crucial to understand how hydration influences the physical and chemical properties. When humidity changes, it affects the degree of hydration by adding or removing water molecules. In many cases, this process induces transitions between liquid crystalline phases. This phenomenon is of general interest for numerous applications simply because of the fact that humidity variations are ubiquitous. Of particular interest are hydration-induced phase transitions in amphiphilic films, which in many cases appear as the frontier toward a vapor phase with changing humidity. Considering this, it is important to characterize the film thickness needed for the formation of 3D liquid crystalline phases and the lyotropic phase behavior of this kind of film. In this work, we study this issue by employing a recently developed method based on the humidity scanning quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (HS QCM-D), which enables continuous scanning of the film hydration. We investigate five surfactants films (DDAO, DTAC, CTAC, SDS, and n-octylβ-d-glucoside) and one lipid film (monoolein) and show that HS QCM-D enables the fast characterization of hydration-induced phase transitions with small samples. Film thicknesses range from tens to hundreds of nanometers, and clear phase transitions are observed in all cases. It is shown that phase transitions in films occur at the same water activities as for corresponding bulk samples. This allows us to conclude that surfactant and lipid films, with a thickness of as low as 50 nm, are in fact assembled as 3D-structured liquid crystalline phases. Furthermore, liquid crystalline phases of surfactant films show liquidlike behavior, which decreases the accuracy of the absorbed water mass measurement. On the other hand, the monoolein lipid forms more rigid liquid crystalline films, allowing for an accurate determination of the water sorption isotherm, which is also true for the sorption isotherms corresponding to the solid surfactant phases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Björklund
- Department of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Health and Society and Biofilms Research Center for Biointerfaces, Malmö University , Malmö, Sweden
| | - Vitaly Kocherbitov
- Department of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Health and Society and Biofilms Research Center for Biointerfaces, Malmö University , Malmö, Sweden
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Li J, Gustavsson C, Piculell L. Time- and Space-Resolved SAXS Experiments Inform on Phase Transition Kinetics in Hydrated, Liquid-Crystalline Films of Polyion-Surfactant Ion "Complex Salts". LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2016; 32:5102-5110. [PMID: 27153140 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.6b00935] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Detailed time- and space-resolved SAXS experiments show the variation with hydration of liquid crystalline structures in ethanol-cast 5-80 μm thick films of polyion-surfactant ion "complex salts" (CS). The CS were dodecyl- (C12) or hexadecyl- (C16) trimethylammonium surfactants with polyacrylate (DP 25 or 6000) counter-polyions. The experiments were carried out on vertical films in humid air above a movable water bath, so that gradients of hydration were generated, which could rapidly be altered. Scans over different positions along a film, kept fixed relative to the bath, showed that the surfactant aggregates of the various liquid-crystalline CS structures grow in cross-sectional area with decreasing hydration. This behavior is attributed to the low water content. Studies of films undergoing rapid dehydration, made possible by the original experimental setup, gave strong evidence that some of the investigated systems remain kinetically trapped for minutes in a nonequilibrium Pm3n micellar cubic phase before switching to the equilibrium P6mm 2D hexagonal phase. Both the length of the polyion and the length of the surfactant hydrocarbon "tail" affect the kinetics of the phase transition. The slowness of the cubic-to-hexagonal structural transition is attributed to the fact that it requires major rearrangements of the polyions and surfactant ions relative to each other. By contrast, other structure changes, such as between the hexagonal and rectangular phases, were observed to occur much more rapidly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joaquim Li
- Physical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Lund University , Box 124, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden
| | - Charlotte Gustavsson
- Physical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Lund University , Box 124, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden
| | - Lennart Piculell
- Physical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Lund University , Box 124, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden
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Percebom AM, Loh W. Controlling the phase structures of polymer/surfactant complexes by changing macromolecular architecture and adding n-alcohols. J Colloid Interface Sci 2016; 466:377-87. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2015.12.050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2015] [Revised: 12/21/2015] [Accepted: 12/23/2015] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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Gustavsson C, Obiols-Rabasa M, Piculell L. Water-Insoluble Surface Coatings of Polyion-Surfactant Ion Complex Salts Respond to Additives in a Surrounding Aqueous Solution. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2015; 31:6487-6496. [PMID: 26017683 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.5b00831] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Hydrated, but water-insoluble, "complex salts" (CS) composed of alkyltrimethylammonium surfactant ions with polyacrylate counterions are known to exhibit a rich phase behavior in bulk mixtures with water and have recently been shown to act as water-responsive surface coatings. Here it is shown, by SAXS measurements, that surface coatings of CS also respond to various added solutes in a surrounding aqueous solution, by altering their liquid crystalline structure. The obtained results provide new information on the phase behavior of CS in contact with water and aqueous solutions. Solutes such as acids, salts, excess ionic surfactant, or water-soluble polymers act on the CS by altering the polyion charge density, screening the electrostatic interaction, changing the curvature of the surfactant aggregate, or increasing the osmotic pressuring in the surrounding solution, all of which may result in a phase transition in the film. In water, all studied CS surface coatings had a micellar cubic structure, which could change to 2D hexagonal, HCP, or disordered micellar structure, depending on the identity of the CS and the identity and concentration of the added solute. For some systems, even dissolved CO2 from the ambient air was sufficient to induce a structural change in the film. Especially the films containing the long polyions remained intact even for large concentrations of solutes in the contacting solutions, and extensive washing in water resulted, in most cases, in films with the "original" structure found in water.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte Gustavsson
- Division of Physical Chemistry, Lund University, P.O. Box 114, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden
| | - Marc Obiols-Rabasa
- Division of Physical Chemistry, Lund University, P.O. Box 114, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden
| | - Lennart Piculell
- Division of Physical Chemistry, Lund University, P.O. Box 114, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden
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