Solvent-induced microphase separation in diblock copolymer thin films with reversibly switchable morphology

We have studied the surface morphology of symmetric poly(styrene)-block-poly(methyl methacrylate) diblock copolymer thin films after solvent vapor treatment selective for poly(methyl methacrylate). Highly ordered nanoscale depressions or striped morphologies are obtained by varying the solvent annealing time. The resulting nanostructured films turn out to be sensitive to the surrounding medium, that is, their morphologies and surface properties can be reversibly switchable upon exposure to different block-selective solvents.

The influencing factors on the macroporous formation in polymer films by water droplet templating

Regular micrometer-size porous polystyrene film is prepared by water droplet templating, i.e. breath figures are stabilized by the polymer in solution and thermocapillary flow arranges them into ordered packing. The influences of polystyrene molecular weight, solvent properties, and the relative humidity of atmosphere on the pattern formation and hole sizes are investigated. Two different kinds of hole packing fashion are also observed and their formation mechanisms are discussed.

Pattern formation in a confined polymer film induced by a temperature gradient

We have studied a morphological instability of a double layer comprising the polymer film and air gap confined between the two plates set to different temperatures. The temperature gradient across the double layer causes the breakup of the polymer film into well-defined columnar, striped or spiral structures spanning the two plates. The pattern formation mechanisms have been discussed. The formed patterns can be transferred to produce PDMS stamp, a key element of soft lithography for future microfabrication.

Ordered pattern formation from dewetting of polymer thin film with surface disturbance by capillary force lithography

The dewetting process of thin polystyrene (PS) film with built-in ordered disturbance by capillary force lithography (CFL) has. been investigated in situ by AFM. Two different phenomena are observed depending on the excess surface energy (DeltaF(gamma)) of the system. When DeltaF(gamma) is less than a certain critical value (i.e., the disturbance amplitude is under a critical value), the PS film would be flattened and become stable finally by heating above T-g. While, if the size of the disturbance amplitude is larger than the critical value, ordered PS liquid droplets form by further dewetting. The pattern formation mechanisms and influencing factors have been discussed in detail.

Ordered droplet formation by thin polymer film dewetting on a stripe-patterned substrate

The dewetting process of thin polystyrene (PS) film on flat and stripe-patterned substrates is presented. Different dewetting processes were observed when the thin PS films annealed at above the glass transition temperature on these different kinds of substrates. The final dewetting on the flat substrate led to formation of polygonal liquid droplets, while on the stripe-patterned substrate, the droplets were observed to align at the centers of the stripes. A possible explanation for the dewetting process on the stripe-patterned substrate is proposed.

Direct patterning of polymer-based photo luminescent structures with a mask

We report a simple method to directly pattern polymer-based photo luminescent material, i.e. a prepatterned mask is placed a close distance above it. The final structure is a positive replica of the lateral structures in the mask with submicrometer resolution. The comparison of luminescence efficiency before and after patterning indicates almost no degradation in optical property of the material during the experiments. The mechanism of pattern formation is also discussed.

Formation and photoluminescence of silver nanoparticles stabilized by a two-armed polymer with a crown ether core

Silver nanoparticles were synthesized by the use of a two-armed polymer with a crown ether core [poly(styrene)]-dibenzo-18-crown-6-[poly(styrene)] based on the flexibility of the polymer chains and the complex effect of crown ether with Ag+ and Ag. The size of silver nanoparticles could be tailored by controlling the initial concentrations of the polymer and Ag+, and the molecular weight of the polymer. The emission of silver nanoparticles was blue-shifted, and the intensity of the photoluminescence of silver nanoparticles stabilized by the polymer was significantly increased due to the complex effect between the crown ether embedded in the polymer and the silver nanoparticles.

Electrodepositing redox polymer on sandwich complex for the improvement of sensitivity in sandwich enzyme-linked immunoassay

Improvement of the sensitivity of electrochemical sandwich enzyme immunoassay has been achieved by electrodepositing redox polymer on screen-printed carbon electrode surface, on which the sandwich complex was formed.

Phenylthiolate as a sigma- and pi-donor ligand: synthesis of a 3-D organometallic coordination polymer [K2Fe(SPh)(4)](n)

The synthesis and crystal structure of the first mixed-metal organometallic polymer network containing phenylthiolato ligands, [K2Fe(SPh)(4)](n), are investigated. The simple phenyl-thiolate acts as a sigma- and pi-donor ligand to give a 3-D potassium iron coordination polymer with both metal-carbon and metal-sulfur coordination interactions.

Radical co-polymerization of diiminedibromidenickel(II)-functionalized olefin with styrene: synthesis of polymer-incorporated nickel(II) alpha-diimine catalysts for ethylene polymerization

alpha-Diimine nickel catalyst hearing two allyl groups [ArN=C](2)C10H6NiBr2 (Ar = 4-allyl-2,6-(i-Pr)(2)C6H2)] (Cat-I) has been synthesized and characterized. The corresponding polymer-incorporated nickel catalysts PC and the SiO2-supported shell-core structure catalyst SC-1 were obtained by the co-polymerization of the olefin groups of Cat-1 with styrene in the presence of a radical initiator. Radical co-polymerizations with styrene in Solution were investigated in detail, and the compositions and molecular weight of the copolymers were determined. All three types of catalysts (Cat-1, PC and SC-1) have been investigated for ethylene polymerization. These catalysts were found to exhibit high activity in the presence of modified methylaluminoxane (MMAO) as a co-catalyst. Among them, the polymer-incorporated PC and SiO2 shell-core catalyst SC-1 displayed very high activity (similar to2.62 and similar to1.11 kg (mmol Ni)(-1) h(-1), respectively) with product molecular weights (M,) in the range 26 x 10(4) to 47 x 10(4) under 0.1 MPa ethylene pressure. The particle morphology of polyethylene produced by the shell-core structure catalyst SC-1 was improved.

White electrolumineseence from a single-polymer system with simultaneous two-color emission: Polyfluorene as the blue host and a 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole derivative as the orange dopant on the main chain

New single-polymer electroluminescent systems containing two individual emission species - polyfluorenes as a blue host and 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole derivative units as an orange dopant on the main chain - have been designed and synthesized. The resulting single polymers are found to have highly efficient white electroluminescence with simultaneous blue(lambda(max) = 421 nm/445 nm) and orange emission (lambda(max) = 564 nm)from the corresponding emitting species. The influence of the photoluminescence (PL) efficiencies of both the blue and orange species on the electroluminescence (EL) efficiencies of white polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs) based on the single-polymer systems has been investigated. The introduction of the highly efficient 4,7-bis(4-(N-phenyl-N-(4-methylphenyl)amino)phenyl)-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole unit to the main chain of polyfluorene provides significant improvement in EL efficiency. For a single-layer device fabricated in air (indium tin oxide/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(styrene sulfonic acid/polymer/Ca/Al), pure-white electroluminescence with Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.35,0.32), maximum brightness of 12 300 cd m(-2), luminance efficiency of 7.30 cd A(-1), and power efficiency of 3.34 lm W-1 can be obtained.

Highly efficient pure-white-light-emitting diodes from a single polymer: Polyfluorene with naphthalimide moieties

Light-emitting diodes exhibiting efficient pure-white-light electroluminescence have been successfully developed by using a single polymer: polyfluorene derivatives with 1,8-naphthalimide chromophores chemically doped onto the polyfluorene backbones. By adjusting the emission wavelength of the 1,8-naphthalimide components and optimizing the relative content of 1,8-naphthalimide derivatives in the resulting polymers, white-light electroluminescence from a single polymer, as opposed to a polymer blend, has been obtained in a device with a configuration of indium tin oxide/poly(3,4-ethyleiledioxythiophene)(50 nm)/polymer(80 nm)/Ca(10 nm)/Al(100 nm). The device exhibits Commission Internationale de I'Eclairage coordinates of (0.32,0.36), a maximum brightness of 11900 cd m(-2), a current efficiency of 3.8 cd A(-1), a power efficiency of 2.0 lm W-1. an external quantum efficiency of 1.50 %, and quite stable color coordinates at different driving voltages, even at high luminances of over 5000 cd m(-2).

Metal printing with modified polymer bonding lithography

SOFT CONTACT LAMINATION; LIGHT-EMITTING DEVICES; LIFT-OFF; FABRICATION; TRANSISTORS; DIODES; FILMS; STAMP

Blue light-emitting polymer with polyfluorene as the host and highly fluorescent 4-dimethylamino-1,8-naphthalimide as the dopant in the sidechain

The dopant/host concept, which is an efficient approach to enhance the electroluminescence (EL) efficiency and stability for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) devices, has been applied to design efficient and stable blue light-emitting polymers. By covalently attaching 0.2 mol % highly fluorescent 4-dimethylamino-1,8-naphthalimide (DMAN) unit (photoluminescence quantum efficiency: Phi(PL)=0.84) to the pendant chain of polyfluorene, an efficient and colorfast blue light-emitting polymer with a dopant/host system and a molecular dispersion feature was developed. The single-layer device (indium tin oxide/PEDOT/polymer/Ca/Al) exhibited the maximum luminance efficiency of 6.85 cd/A and maximum power efficiency of 5.38 lm/W with the CIE coordinates of (0.15, 0.19). Moreover, no undesired long-wavelength green emission was observed in the EL spectra when the device was thermal annealed in air at 180 degrees C for 1 h before cathode deposition. These significant improvements in both efficiency and color stability are due to the charge trapping and energy transfer from polyfluorene host to highly fluorescent DMAN dopant in the molecular level.

Effects of chain flexibility on polymer conformation in dilute solution studied by lattice Monte Carlo simulation

Effects of chain flexibility on the conformation of homopolymers in good solvents have been investigated by Monte Carlo simulation. Bond angle constraint coupled with persistence length of polymer chains has been introduced in the modified eight-site bond fluctuation simulation model. The study about the effects of chain flexibility on polymer sizes reveals that the orientation of polymer chains under confinement is driven by the loss of conformation entropy. The conformation of polymer chains undergoing a gradual change from spherical iso-diametric ellipsoid to rodlike iso-diametric ellipsoid with the decrease of polymer chain flexibility in a wide region has been clearly illustrated from several aspects. Furthermore, a comparison of the freely jointed chain (FJC) model and the wormlike chain (WLC) model has also been made to describe the polymer sizes in terms of chain flexibility and quasi-quantitative boundary toward the suitability of the models.