We systematically investigate the effects of divalent anions on the assembly of polyelectrolyte multilayers by fabricating polystyrene sulfonate (PSS)/polyallylamine hydrochloride (PAH) multilayer films from aqueous solutions containing SO(4)(2-), HPO(4)(2-), or organic dicarboxylate dianions. The chosen concentrations of these anions (i.e., ≤0.05 M) allow us to isolate their effects on the ass...

Ultrathin polymer films that are produced, e.g., by spin coating are believed to be stressed since polymers are "frozen in" into out-of-equilibrium configurations during this process. In the framework of a viscoelastic thin-film model, we study the effects of lateral residual stresses on the dewetting dynamics of the film. The temporal evolution of the height profiles and the velocity profiles ...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Mussel-inspired polydopamine (PDA) is known to be an effective bioadhesive and bioactive material for controlling stem cell fate, which is important in stem cell-based regenerative medicine; however, the effect of PDA on osteogenic differentiation of periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) is not fully understood. In this study, we investigated the osteoinductive effect of PDA ...

The supramolecular self-assembly within a liquid crystalline block copolymer thin film with mesogenic semifluorinated alkyl side groups was studied using both grazing incidence X-ray diffraction and small angle scattering. Previous studies employing near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy indicated that mesogens at the film surface are tilted relative to the surface-normal. This ...

Numerous previous studies have established that the addition of a microphase-ordered AB diblock copolymer to a thin homopolymer A (hA) film can slow, if not altogether prevent, film rupture and subsequent film dewetting on a hard substrate such as silica. However, only a few reports have examined comparable phenomena when the hA/AB blend resides on a soft B-selective surface, such as homopolyme...

Polystyrene/poly(acrylic acid) latex particles 0.26 μm in diameter, which were synthesized by emulsion copolymerization of styrene and acrylic acid, were immobilized on the platinum electrode in a uniform film. The film did not block the diffusion current of a ferrocene derivative in the solution. The voltammograms showed the reduction of hydrogen ion, which was supplied not only from the solut...

The dynamics of micrometer-size polystyrene latex particles confined in thinning foam films was investigated bymicroscopic interferometric observation. The behavior of the entrapped particles depends on the mobility of the film surfaces, the particle concentration, hydrophobicity, and rate of film formation. When the filmswere stabilized by sodium dodecyl sulfate, no entrapment of particles bet...

Multi-level carbon nanotube (CNT) arrays with adjustable patterns were prepared by a combination of the breath figure (BF) process and chemical vapor deposition. Polystyrene-b-poly(acrylic acid)/ferrocene was dissolved in carbon disulfide and cast onto a Si substrate covered with a transmission electron microscope grid in saturated relative humidity. A two-level microporous hybrid film with a b...

The development of magnetic hybrid films containing diblock copolymers (DBCs) and nanoparticles (NPs) by printing is a highly promising method for scalable low-cost fabrication. During printing, the drying arrangement kinetics DBC NPs play an important role in film formation concerning morphology properties. In this study, evolution ultrahigh molecular weight polystyrene-block-poly(methyl metha...

A compact setup for in situ solvothermal vapor annealing of thin polymer films the temperature range from room to 70 °C is presented. The design optimized avoid solvent condensation tubes and other components. consists a chamber, gas delivery system, commercial film-thickness measuring device, concentration sensor. chamber equipped with heaters thermometers thermally insulated. It has windows a...