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The considerable activity in the area of organic thin films, involving very thin polymeric films and molecular monolayers and multilayers, led to the formation of a panel, sponsored by the Materials Sciences Division of the Department of Energy, to review this field. Its purpose was to better understand the relevant scientific topics and to suggest suitable areas of research. In particular, a number of potential applications were identified, which require further scientific advances for them to see fruition. These include nonlinear and active optical devices, chemical, biochemical, and physical sensors, protective layers (e.g., for passivation), patternable materials both for resists and for mass information storage, surface modification (e.g., wetting and electrochemical electrode properties), and synthetic biomacromolecules. Studies of these films have the added advantage that they could lead to a better scientific understanding of such subjects as the relationships between the microstructure of ordered molecular arrays and their collective properties, the tailoring of interfaces and surfaces, especially when used to model multibody interactions, and the physical and chemical reactions of films involving phase transitions and intraand interfilm transport. The areas that appear to require the most attention include the application of new characterization techniques, such as the scanning tunneling microscope, the improvement of mechanical and thermal stability, the identification and characterization of physical and chemical defects, and the effects of internal ordering on macroscopic properties. It is further recommended that strong interdisciplinary efforts be mounted to address and solve these problems.

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Polyethylene oxide(PEO)-containing nonionic polymeric surfactants were studied as a possible means to produce PEO-rich surfaces by a simple coating treatment of a common hydrophobic medical material--polyethylene. Surface tension and adsorption properties of PEO/polypropylene oxide(PPO) and PEO/polybutylene oxide(PBO) block copolymer surfactants on a hydrophobic surface (low density polyethylene, LDPE) were investigated, using the Wilhelmy plate surface tension technique and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS). The protein resistance of the surfactant-treated surfaces was evaluated by XPS and 125I-labeled proteins. The data presented indicate that adsorption of the surfactants on LDPE is dependent on the molecular geometry of the surfactants. Adsorption of human albumin was significantly decreased on the surfactant-treated LDPE surfaces, as compared with the untreated surface. Surfactants suitable for the preparation of PEO-rich surfaces and possible mechanisms for their protein resistance are discussed.

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