Langmuir-Blodgett film balance

Figure 2. Schematic of the Langmuir Blodgett film balance and monolayer deposition at the air-water interphase.

High-resolution circuitry and active devices employing Langmuir-Blodgett film techniques or polymer-based transistors are being considered for the sophisticated electronics required in future vehicles. Temperature or energy balance in the vehicle could be controlled through conductive polymers or semiconductor deposits on electrochromic windows. Electroluminescent liquid crystals and fluorescent and electrochromic materials used for visual displays show promise for future development. 

Furthermore, insofar as additive action is concerned, the films of interest are oriented films. Our particular interest is in such films formed on the adsorbing surface by the additive which is dissolved in the liquid carrier fluid of the lubricant. These are the films which are found in everyday technology, in contradistinction to Langmuir-Blodgett films which are deposited on the solid surface by transfer of a preformed layer from the water surface of a film balance and which, despite their interesting properties, may be regarded as artifacts, as was pointed out by Zisman [5] in a review of the relation between wettability and the nature of adsorbed films. 

Langmuir-Blodgett films of copolymers of pyrrole with 3-octadecylpyrrole, 3-octadecanoylpyrrole or 3-hexadecylpyrrole are easily prepared at the air-water interface of a LB film balance by spreading mixtures of both monomers onto an aqueous subphase containing... 

Only two years after Langmuir published the design of his surface film balance ), now known as the Langmuir trough, his co-worker Miss Katharine Blodgett developed a technique for transferring monolayers from the alr/water interface to... 

Equipment for LB Deposition By now, many kinds of the LB deposition protocols have been achieved by developing a variety of Langmuir-Blodgett troughs. Many types of trough systems are produced by employing the basic design of the traditional film balance, as mentioned in the earlier section. 

Ostergard et al. [764] attempted to tailor performance of CP-LEDs by employing Langmuir-Blodgett (L-B) films of poly(3-hexylthiophene) derivatives, one of the first such studies. They claimed that this led to better balancing of injected holes and electrons, leading to improved quantum efficiency. 

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