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Qiao L, Vega DA, Schmid F. Stability and Elasticity of Ultrathin Sphere-Patterned Block Copolymer Films. Macromolecules 2024; 57:4629-4634. [PMID: 38765499 PMCID: PMC11100483 DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.4c00460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2024] [Revised: 04/05/2024] [Accepted: 04/12/2024] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Abstract
Sphere-patterned ultrathin block copolymer films are potentially interesting for a variety of applications in nanotechnology. We use self-consistent field theory to investigate the elastic response of sphere monolayer films with respect to in-plane shear, in-plane extension, compression deformations, and bending. The relations between the in-plane elastic moduli are roughly compatible with the expectations for two-dimensional elastic systems with hexagonal symmetry, with one notable exception: The pure shear and the simple shear moduli differ from each other by roughly 20%. Even more importantly, the bending constants are found to be negative, indicating that free-standing block copolymer membranes made of only a sphere monolayer are inherently unstable above the glass transition. Our results are discussed in view of the experimental findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Le Qiao
- Institut
für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität
Mainz, Mainz D55099, Germany
| | - Daniel A. Vega
- Instituto
de Física del Sur (IFISUR), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones
Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Universidad Nacional del Sur, Bahía Blanca 8000, Argentina
| | - Friederike Schmid
- Institut
für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität
Mainz, Mainz D55099, Germany
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2
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Morozova TI, García NA, Barrat JL, Luengo GS, Léonforte F. Adsorption and Desorption of Polymers on Bioinspired Chemically Structured Substrates. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2021; 13:30086-30097. [PMID: 34151554 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c07425] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Natural biological surfaces exhibit interesting properties due to their inhomogeneous chemical and physical structure at the micro- and nanoscale. In the case of hair or skin, this also influences how waterborne macromolecules ingredients will adsorb and form cosmetically performing deposits (i.e., shampoos, cleansers, etc.). Here, we study the adsorption of hydrophilic flexible homopolymers on heterogeneous, chemically patterned substrates that represent the surface of the hair by employing coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations. We develop a method in which the experimental images of the substrate are used to obtain information about the surface properties. We investigate the polymer adsorption as a function of polymer chain length and polymer concentration spanning both dilute and semidilute regimes. Adsorbed structures are quantified in terms of trains, loops, and tails. We show that upon increasing polymer concentration, the length of tails and loops increases at the cost of monomers belonging to trains. Furthermore, using an effective description, we probe the stability of the resulting adsorbed structures under a linear shear flow. Our work is a first step toward developing models of complex macromolecules interacting with realistic biological surfaces, as needed for the development of more ecofriendly industrial products.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Nicolás A García
- Institut Laue-Langevin, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, Grenoble 38042, France
| | - Jean-Louis Barrat
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, LIPhy, Grenoble 38000, France
- Institut Laue-Langevin, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, Grenoble 38042, France
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3
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Abate AA, Piqueras CM, Vega DA. Defect-Induced Order–Order Phase Transition in Triblock Copolymer Thin Films. Macromolecules 2021. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.0c02593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Anabella A. Abate
- Department of Physics. Instituto de Física del Sur (IFISUR), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Universidad Nacional del Sur, 8000 Bahía Blanca, Argentina
| | - Cristian M. Piqueras
- Department of Chemical Engineering. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química (PLAPIQUI), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Universidad Nacional del Sur, 8000 Bahía Blanca, Argentina
| | - Daniel A. Vega
- Department of Physics. Instituto de Física del Sur (IFISUR), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Universidad Nacional del Sur, 8000 Bahía Blanca, Argentina
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Vu GT, Abate AA, Gómez LR, Pezzutti AD, Register RA, Vega DA, Schmid F. Curvature as a Guiding Field for Patterns in Thin Block Copolymer Films. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2018; 121:087801. [PMID: 30192564 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.121.087801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2018] [Revised: 06/13/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Experimental data on thin films of cylinder-forming block copolymers (BC)-free-standing BC membranes as well as supported BC films-strongly suggest that the local orientation of the BC patterns is coupled to the geometry in which the patterns are embedded. We analyze this phenomenon using general symmetry considerations and numerical self-consistent field studies of curved BC films in cylindrical geometry. The stability of the films against curvature-induced dewetting is also analyzed. In good agreement with experiments, we find that the BC cylinders tend to align along the direction of curvature at high curvatures. At low curvatures, we identify a transition from perpendicular to parallel alignment in supported films, which is absent in free-standing membranes. Hence both experiments and theory show that curvature can be used to manipulate and align BC patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giang Thi Vu
- Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz Staudinger Weg 7, D-55099 Mainz, Germany
| | - Anabella A Abate
- Department of Physics, Universidad Nacional del Sur-IFISUR CONICET, 800, Bahia Blanca, Argentina
| | - Leopoldo R Gómez
- Department of Physics, Universidad Nacional del Sur-IFISUR CONICET, 800, Bahia Blanca, Argentina
| | - Aldo D Pezzutti
- Department of Physics, Universidad Nacional del Sur-IFISUR CONICET, 800, Bahia Blanca, Argentina
| | - Richard A Register
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
| | - Daniel A Vega
- Department of Physics, Universidad Nacional del Sur-IFISUR CONICET, 800, Bahia Blanca, Argentina
| | - Friederike Schmid
- Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz Staudinger Weg 7, D-55099 Mainz, Germany
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Abate AA, Vu GT, Pezzutti AD, García NA, Davis RL, Schmid F, Register RA, Vega DA. Shear-Aligned Block Copolymer Monolayers as Seeds To Control the Orientational Order in Cylinder-Forming Block Copolymer Thin Films. Macromolecules 2016. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.6b00816] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Anabella A. Abate
- Instituto
de Física del Sur (IFISUR), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones
Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Universidad Nacional del Sur, 8000 Bahía Blanca, Argentina
| | - Giang Thi Vu
- Institut
für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz, Staudinger Weg
7, D-55099 Mainz, Germany
| | - Aldo D. Pezzutti
- Instituto
de Física del Sur (IFISUR), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones
Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Universidad Nacional del Sur, 8000 Bahía Blanca, Argentina
| | - Nicolás A. García
- Instituto
de Física del Sur (IFISUR), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones
Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Universidad Nacional del Sur, 8000 Bahía Blanca, Argentina
| | - Raleigh L. Davis
- Department
of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, United States
| | - Friederike Schmid
- Institut
für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz, Staudinger Weg
7, D-55099 Mainz, Germany
| | - Richard A. Register
- Department
of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, United States
| | - Daniel A. Vega
- Instituto
de Física del Sur (IFISUR), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones
Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Universidad Nacional del Sur, 8000 Bahía Blanca, Argentina
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Tavakkoli K. G. A, Nicaise SM, Gadelrab KR, Alexander-Katz A, Ross CA, Berggren KK. Multilayer block copolymer meshes by orthogonal self-assembly. Nat Commun 2016; 7:10518. [PMID: 26796218 PMCID: PMC4736107 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10518] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2015] [Accepted: 12/18/2015] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Continued scaling-down of lithographic-pattern feature sizes has brought templated self-assembly of block copolymers (BCPs) into the forefront of nanofabrication research. Technologies now exist that facilitate significant control over otherwise unorganized assembly of BCP microdomains to form both long-range and locally complex monolayer patterns. In contrast, the extension of this control into multilayers or 3D structures of BCP microdomains remains limited, despite the possible technological applications in next-generation devices. Here, we develop and analyse an orthogonal self-assembly method in which multiple layers of distinct-molecular-weight BCPs naturally produce nanomesh structures of cylindrical microdomains without requiring layer-by-layer alignment or high-resolution lithographic templating. The mechanisms for orthogonal self-assembly are investigated with both experiment and simulation, and we determine that the control over height and chemical preference of templates are critical process parameters. The method is employed to produce nanomeshes with the shapes of circles and Y-intersections, and is extended to produce three layers of orthogonally oriented cylinders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amir Tavakkoli K. G.
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
| | - Samuel M. Nicaise
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
| | - Karim R. Gadelrab
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
| | - Alfredo Alexander-Katz
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
| | - Caroline A. Ross
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
| | - Karl K. Berggren
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
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Cao X, Zhang L, Gu J, Wang L, Lin J. Designing three-dimensional ordered structures from directed self-assembly of block copolymer films in topographical templates. POLYMER 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2015.07.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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8
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Davis RL, Michal BT, Chaikin PM, Register RA. Progression of Alignment in Thin Films of Cylinder-Forming Block Copolymers upon Shearing. Macromolecules 2015. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.5b01028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Raleigh L. Davis
- Department
of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Princeton Institute for
the Science and Technology of Materials, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, United States
| | - Brian T. Michal
- Department
of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Princeton Institute for
the Science and Technology of Materials, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, United States
| | - Paul M. Chaikin
- Department
of Physics, New York University, New York, New York 10003, United States
| | - Richard A. Register
- Department
of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Princeton Institute for
the Science and Technology of Materials, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, United States
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Li W, Müller M. Defects in the Self-Assembly of Block Copolymers and Their Relevance for Directed Self-Assembly. Annu Rev Chem Biomol Eng 2015; 6:187-216. [DOI: 10.1146/annurev-chembioeng-061114-123209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 102] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Block copolymer self-assembly provides a platform for fabricating dense, ordered nanostructures by encoding information in the chemical architecture of multicomponent macromolecules. Depending on the volume fraction of the components and chain topology, these macromolecules form a variety of spatially periodic microphases in thermodynamic equilibrium. The kinetics of self-assembly, however, often results in initial morphologies with defects, and the subsequent ordering is protracted. Different strategies have been devised to direct the self-assembly of copolymer materials by external fields to align and perfect the self-assembled nanostructures. Understanding and controlling the thermodynamics of defects, their response to external fields, and their dynamics is important because applications in microelectronics either require extremely low defect densities or aim at generating specific defects at predetermined locations to fabricate irregular device-oriented structures for integrated circuits. In this review, we discuss defect morphologies of block copolymers in the bulk and thin films, highlighting (a) analogies to and differences from defects in other crystalline materials, (b) the stability of defects and their dynamics, and (c) the influence of external fields.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weihua Li
- Institute for Theoretical Physics, Georg-August University, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
- Department of Macromolecular Science, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
| | - Marcus Müller
- Institute for Theoretical Physics, Georg-August University, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
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Gómez LR, Vega DA, Ninago M, Ciolino AE, Villar MA, Vallés EM. Phase behavior of model poly(butadiene 1,3)-block-(dimethylsiloxane) copolymers. POLYMER 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2015.01.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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