Tricontinuous Cubic Nanostructure and Pore Size Patterning in Mesostructured Silica Films Templated with Glycerol Monooleate

The fabrication of nanostructured films possessing tricontinuous minimal surface mesophases with well-defined framework and pore connectivity remains a difficult task. As a new route to these structures, we introduce glycerol monooleate (GMO) as a template for evaporation-induced self-assembly. As deposited, a nanostructured double gyroid phase is formed, as indicated by analysis of grazing-incidence small-angle x-ray scattering data. Removal of GMO by UV/O(3) treatment or acid extraction induces a phase change to a nanoporous body-centered structure which we tentatively identify as based on the IW-P surface. To improve film quality, we add a co-surfactant to the GMO in a mass ratio of 1:10; when this co-surfactant is cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, we find an unusually large pore size (8-12 nm) in acid extracted films, while UV/O(3) treated films yield pores of only ca. 4 nm. Using this pore size dependence on film processing procedure, we create a simple method for patterning pore size in nanoporous films, demonstrating spatially-defined size-selective molecular adsorption.

Characterization of lipid-templated silica and hybrid thin film mesophases by grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering

The nanostructure of silica and hybrid thin film mesophases templated by phospholipids via an evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) process was investigated by grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS). Diacyl phosphatidylcholines with two tails of 6 or 8 carbons were found to template 2D hexagonal mesophases, with the removal of lipid from these lipid/silica films by thermal or UV/O3 processing resulting in a complete collapse of the pore volume. Monoacyl phosphatidylcholines with single tails of 10-14 carbons formed 3D micellular mesophases; the lipid was found to be extractable from these 3D materials, yielding a porous material. In contrast to pure lipid/silica thin film mesophases, films formed from the hybrid bridged silsesquioxane precursor bis(triethoxysilyl)ethane exhibited greater stability toward (both diacyl and monoacyl) lipid removal. Ellipsometric, FTIR, and NMR studies show that the presence of phospholipid suppresses siloxane network formation, while actually promoting condensation reactions in the hybrid material. 1D X-ray scattering and FTIR data were found to be consistent with strong interactions between lipid headgroups and the silica framework.