Robust ordered cubic mesostructured polymer/silica composite films grown at the air/water interface

DOI: 10.1021/la4001329

Authors: Bin Yang (University of Bath) , Jim Holdaway (University of Bath) , Karen J. Edler (University of Bath)
Co-authored by industrial partner: No

Type: Journal Paper
Journal: Langmuir , VOL 29 (12)

State: Published (Approved)
Published: February 2013
Diamond Proposal Number(s): 1002

Abstract: Polymer/silica composite films, stable to calcination, were produced using catanionic surfactant mixtures (hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)) and polymers (polyethylenimine (PEI) or polyacrylamide (PAAm)) at the air/water interface. Film formation processes were probed by time-resolved neutron reflectivity measurements. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GID) measurements indicate that the mesophase geometry of the interfacial films could be controlled to give lamellar, 2D hexagonal, and several cubic phases (Pn3?m, Fm3?m, and Im3?m) by varying the polyelectrolyte molecular weight, polyelectrolyte chemical nature, or the cationic:anionic surfactant molar ratio. On the basis of GID results, a phase diagram for the catanionic surfactant/polyelectrolyte/TMOS film system was drawn. These films can be easily removed from the interface and mesoporous silica films which retain the film geometry can be obtained after calcination; moreover, this film preparation method provides a simple way to impart polymer functionality into the mesostructured silica wall, which means these films have potential applications in a variety of fields such as catalysis, molecular separation, and drug delivery.

Subject Areas: Chemistry, Materials


Instruments: I22-Small angle scattering & Diffraction

Added On: 04/03/2013 08:22

Discipline Tags:

Chemistry Materials Science Inorganic Chemistry Composite Materials Polymer Science

Technical Tags:

Scattering Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS)