In this Communication, we show that nanometer scale control of semiconducting polymer chain conformation is possible using host/guest chemistry in highly ordered and macroscopically oriented thin films of mesoporous silica. This control leads to a thin film composite material that is optically transparent, densely filled with polymer, and has highly polarized optical properties. Calculations of...

Thin film metal oxide coatings have been used commercially as electromagnetic filters from the UV to infrared regions for over half a century. Deposition onto a substrate has typically been accomplished using vapor deposition techniques and more recently sol–gel methods. These coatings provide very good optical and mechanical performance when applied to substrates with similar thermal and mecha...

This work reports thin-film terminated micro-fibrillar adhesives made of adhesive polymers and shape memory polymers as reversible dry adhesives with thermally controllable adhesion. Structurally different adhesives were fabricated by coating a continuous thin layer of an elastomeric adhesive polymer onto either a flat or a fibrillar shape memory polymer surface. Experimental results exhibited ...

Due to the protection of ionic liquid polymer thin film, the long-term operation stability of carbon nanotube-supported platinum nanoparticles for methanol electrooxidation has been improved.

In this work, nanostructured TiO2 and Cr-doped TiO2 thin films were deposited on glass substrate through sonochemical-chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. The resulting thin films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, and photoluminescence spectroscopy techniques. The TiO2 thin film has nanocubic morphology and ...

Solution processed metal oxide thin films are important for modern optoelectronic devices ranging from thin film transistors to photovoltaics and for functional optical coatings. Solution processed techniques such as dip-coating, allow thin films to be rapidly deposited over a large range of surfaces including curved, flexible or plastic substrates without extensive processing of comparative va...

We report results of glass transition (T(g)) measurements for polymer thin films using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The AFM mode, shear modulation force microscopy (SMFM), involves measuring the temperature-dependent shear force on a tip modulated parallel to the sample surface. Using this method we have measured the surface T(g) of thin (17-500 nm) polymer films and found that T(g) is indepe...

Dedication To Mr. Albin and Mr. Miller for recognizing that a student is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be lit.

Atomic force microscopy (AFM), neutron reflection (NR) and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) are used to examine phase separation in symmetrically segregating thin polymer blend films (e1000 Å). Phase separation in the film leads to undulations of the liquid-air interface, provided the film is sufficiently thin to suppress surface-directed spinodal decomposition waves. Flattened droplets a...

Thin polymer films are playing an increasing role in technological applications such as lithographic resist layers, barrier layers, electronic packaging, and optical coatings. As a result, it is becoming apparent that confined polymers can display subtle or even dramatic differences in their physical properties when compared to the same polymers in the bulk state. Understanding these difference...