Atomic force microscopy polymer films

Ferreiro V, Depecker C, Laureyns J and Coulon G (2004) Structures and morphologies of cast and plastically strained polyamide 6 films as evidenced by confocal Raman microspectroscopy and atomic force microscopy, Polymer 45 6013-6026. 

Ferreiro V, Pennec Y, Seguela R, Coulon G. Shear banding in polyamide 6 films as revealed by atomic force microscopy. Polymer 2000 41 1561-1569. 

Vanduyne R.P., Hulteen J.C., Treichel D.A., Atomic-force microscopy and surface-enhanced Raman-spectroscopy. 1. Ag island films and Ag film over polymer nanosphere surfaces supported on glass, J. Chem. Phys. 1993 99 2101-211. 

The obtained PEDOT polymer showed a very good capacity for film formation at a macroscopic level, and very low surface roughness also at a microscopic level, as can be observed in the surface picture of the film obtained by atomic force microscopy (Eig. 7). 

Nonconjugated poly[l,3-propanedioxy-l,4-phenylene-l,2-ethenylene(2,5-bis(tri-methylsilyl)-l,4-phenylene)- l,2-ethenylene-l,4-phenylene] (DSiPV) and conjugated MEH-PPV polymers are mixed by changing their weight ratios in 1,2-dichloroethane. The films of the blend polymers could be spin-cast from 1,2-dichloroethane solution with excellent reproducibility. AFM (atomic force microscopy) and SEM images show no indication of phase separation or layer formation due to the immiscibility of two polymers. The structures of DSiPV and MEH-PPV are shown in Fig. 24. 

Another example of a Pc-based 1-D polymer is that reported by Armstrong and co-workers [158], They prepared a Pc with eight styrene-type polymerizable sites at the end of the peripheral substituents. This molecule forms highly ordered, rod-like aggregates at the air-water interface that can be transferred onto solid supports. Irradiation of the thin films affords polymerization between the olefin moieties of adjacent molecules by photostimulated [2 + 2] cycloaddition. The rod-like Pc macromolecules were conveniently studied by matrix-assisted laser desorp-tion/ionization (MALDI-TOF) spectrometry and atomic force microscopy (ATM), the latter showing rods with lengths up to 290 nm. 

Measurements by Atomic Force Microscopy (in tappingmode, using a standard silicon tip with a radius of 10 nm) of the surface topography of both the lower and the upper interface (the surface of the aluminum electrode and that of the polymer film, respectively) revealed a typical root-mean square roughness of 3 nm or less... 

Figures 33.13 shows the topography of the two plasma polymer layers deposited under different conditions on a polished iron surface. Both films show a similar topography as observed by atomic force microscopy, but the film deposited on O2 plasma-pretreated polished iron showed a little more grainy surface than (Ar + H2) plasma-pretreated sample. In Figure 33.14 the root mean square value is plotted against the film thickness. The grainy surface (O2 plasma pretreated), which showed a higher deposition rate, increased the roughness as the thickness increased as expected.

Summary Silicone copolymers are hybrid matmals with varying phase separation levels. The polymers themselves as well as surfaces formed by these copolymers were analyzed by a variety of polymer and surface characterization methods. Atomic force microscopy was found to be especially suitable for analysis of thin polymer films. Both surface and bulk properties are dominated by the domain size and the silicone content. 

C.W. Perahia, D. Atomic force microscopy studies on the dewetting of perfluorinated ionomer thin films. J. Polym. Sci. B Polym. Phys. 2002,... 

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