Self-Assembly of Nano-Sized Spherical Polyelectrolyte Brushes on Different Substrates as Observed by AFM

Abstract:

Nano-sized spherical poly (acrylic acid) (PAA) brushes (SPB) were prepared on the surface of colloidal polystyrene (PS) particles by photo-emulsion polymerization. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was employed to observe the assembly of SPB on substrates of silicon, gold and mica with various surface properties and to determine the morphological information including particle size, shape and core-shell structure of SPB. We found that the surface polarity, electrostatic interactions between SPB and substrate surface and among SPB and capillary forces during sample drying affect the SPB assembly on substrate surface and their morphology.

• Periodical: Applied Mechanics and Materials (Volumes 110-116)
• Pages: 3762-3769
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.110-116.3762
• Online since: October 2011
• Authors: Shi Bin Huang, Xu Hong Guo, Li Li, Hong Ru Xu, Ya Ming Dong
• Keywords: Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Electrostatic Interactions, Self-Assembly, Spherical Polyelectrolyte Brushes

References

[1] G. K. H. Pang, K. Z. Baba-Kishi, and A. Patel, Topographic and phase-contrast imaging in atomic force microscopy, Ultramicroscop, vol. 81, Mar. 2000, pp.35-40, doi: 10. 1016/S0304-3991(99)00164-3.

DOI: 10.1016/s0304-3991(99)00164-3

[2] A. Deffieux, M. Schappacher, A. Hirao, and T. Watanabe, Synthesis and AFM structural imaging of dendrimer-like star-branched polystyrenes, J. Am. Chem. Soc., vol. 130, Apr. 2008, pp.5670-5672, doi: 10. 1021/ja800881k.

DOI: 10.1021/ja800881k

[3] K. Matyjaszewski, S. Qin, J. R. Boyce, D. Shirvayants, and S. S. Seiko, Effect of initiation conditions on the uniformity of three-arm star molecular brushes, Macromolecules, vol. 36, Feb. 2003, pp.1843-1849, doi: 10. 1021/ma021633w.

DOI: 10.1021/ma021633w

[4] S. S. Seiko, M. Da Silva, D. Shirvayants, I. LaRue, S. Prokhorova, M. Moeller, K. Beers, and K. Matyjaszewski, Measuring Molecular Weight by Atomic Force Microscopy, J. Am. Chem. Soc., vol. 125, May. 2003, pp.6725-6728, doi: 10. 1021/ja0346779.

DOI: 10.1021/ja0346779

[5] P. Viville, P. Leclere, A. Deffieux, M. Schappacher, J. Bernard, R. Borusali, J. L. Bredas, and R. Lazzaroni, Atomic force microscopy study of comb-like vs. arborescent graft copolymers in thin films, Polymer, vol. 45, Mar. 2004, pp.1833-1843.

DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2004.01.030

[6] M. Schappacher and A. Deffieux, From combs to comb-g-comb centipedes, Macromolecules, vol. 38, Jul. 2005, pp.7209-7213, doi: 10. 1021/ma051076o.

DOI: 10.1021/ma051076o

[7] X. Guo, A. Weiss, and M. Ballauff, Synthesis of spherical polyelectrolyte brushes by photoemulsion polymerization, Macromolecules, vol. 32, Sep. 1999, pp.6043-6046, doi: 10. 1021/ma990609o.

DOI: 10.1021/ma990609o

[8] X. Guo and M. Ballauff, Spatial dimensions of colloidal polyelectrolyte brushes as determined by dynamic light scattering, Langmuir, vol. 16, Nov. 2000, pp.8719-8726, dio: 10. 1021/la000319x.

DOI: 10.1021/la000319x

[9] Y. Mei, A. Wittemann, G. Sharma, and M. Ballauff, Engineering the interaction of latex spheres with charged surfaces: AFM investigation of spherical polyelectrolyte brushes on mica, Macromolecules, vol. 36, Apr. 2003, pp.3452-3456.

DOI: 10.1021/ma0258399

[10] H. Gliemann, Y. Mei, M. Ballauff, and T. Schimmel, Adhesion of spherical polyelectrolyte brushes on mica: an in situ AFM investigation, Langmuir, vol. 22, Jul. 2006, pp.7254-7259, doi: 10. 1021/la060933u.

DOI: 10.1021/la060933u

[11] K. M. Chen, X. Jiang, L. C. Kimerling, and P. T. Hammond, Selective self-Organization of colloids on patterned polyelectrolyte templates, Langmuir, vol. 16, Sep. 2000, pp.7825-7834, doi: 10. 1021/la000277c.

DOI: 10.1021/la000277c

[12] Y. H. Kim, J. Park, P. J. Yoo, and P. T. Hammond, Selective assembly of colloidal particles on a nanostructured template coated with polyelectrolyte multilayers, Adv. Mater. vol. 19, Nov. 2007, p.4426–4430, doi: 10. 1002/adma. 200700979.

DOI: 10.1002/adma.200700979

[13] P. T. Hammond, Form and function in multilayer assembly: new applications at the nanoscale, Adv. Mater., vol. 16, Aug. 2004, p.1271–1293, doi: 10. 1002/adma. 200400760.

DOI: 10.1002/adma.200400760

[14] B. F. Lyles, M. S. Terrot, P. T. Hammond, and A. P. Gast, Directed patterned adsorption of magnetic beads on polyelectrolyte multilayers on glass, Langmuir, vol. 20, Mar. 2004, pp.3028-3031, doi: 0. 1021/la049486d.

DOI: 10.1021/la049486d

[15] H. Zheng, M. F. Rubner, and P. T. Hammond, Particle assembly on patterned 'plus/minus' polyelectrolyte surfaces via polymer-on-polymer stamping, Langmuir, vol. 18, Apr. 2002, pp.4505-4510, doi: 10. 1021/la020044g.

DOI: 10.1021/la020044g

[16] H. Zheng, I. Lee, M. F. Rubner, and P. T. Hammond, Two component particle arrays on patterned polyelectrolyte multilayer templates, Adv. Mater., vol. 14, Apr. 2002, p.569–572, doi: 10. 1002/1521-4095(20020418).

DOI: 10.1002/1521-4095(20020418)14:8<569::aid-adma569>3.0.co;2-o

[17] I. Lee, H. Zheng, M. F. Rubner, and P. T. Hammond, Controlled cluster size in patterned particle arrays via directed adsorption on confined surfaces, Adv. Mater., vol. 14, Apr. 2002, p.572–577, doi: 10. 1002/1521-4095(20020418).

DOI: 10.1002/1521-4095(20020418)14:8<572::aid-adma572>3.0.co;2-b