Langmuir and Langmuir-Blodgett Films of Metallosupramolecular Polyelectrolyte-Amphiphile Complexes

Abstract

A detailed analysis of a metallosupramolecular polyelectrolyte-amphiphile complex (PAC) at the air-water interface is presented. Langmuir isotherms, Brewster angle microscopy, and X-ray reflectance and diffraction methods are employed to investigate the structure of the Langmuir monolayers. The PAC is self-assembled from 1,3-bis[4'-oxa-(2,2':6',2' '-terpyridinyl)]propane, iron acetate, and dihexadecyl phosphate (DHP). Spreading the PAC at the air-water interface results in a monolayer that consists of two strata. DHP forms a monolayer at the top of the interface, while the metallosupramolecular polyelectrolyte is immersed in the aqueous subphase. Both strata are coupled to each other through electrostatic interactions. The monolayers can be transferred onto solid substrates, resulting in well-ordered multilayers. Such multilayers are model systems for well-ordered metal ions in two dimensions.

Effects of Fullerenes on Phospholipid Membranes: A Langmuir Monolayer Study

“…The transfer ratios were all approximately 1:1; hence, AFM images were representative of the trough interface. [40][41][42] Prior to scanning, the monolayer-coated mica was placed in vacuum for 1 h to remove the residual water. AFM images were obtained by using a Nanoscope III multimode AFM (Digital Instruments) operated in tapping mode under ambient conditions.…”

Hierarchical assemblies of coordination supramolecules

“…Kurth et al [50][51][52][53] combined the Fe(II)-MEPE and dihexadecyl phosphate (DHP) to prepare a polyelectrolyte-amphiphile complex (PAC, as shown in Fig. 8a).…”

Metallo-supramolecular modules as a paradigm for materials science

“…The PAC forms nanostructures on graphite and spreads at the air-water interface. The resulting Langmuir monolayer can be transferred onto solid supports by the LB technique [98]. In addition, PACs exhibit thermotropic polymorphism and spin-crossover [99].…”

“…In another approach, the preassembled water-insoluble metallo-supramolecular assembly is directly spread on the water surface. For instance, it is possible to spread the above-mentioned PAC, based on Fe(II), 1,4-bis(2, 2 : 6 , 2 -terpyridin-4-yl)benzene and DHP, directly at the air-water interface because owing to the amphiphilic molecules, the assembly is insoluble in water (figure 21) [98,110]. As a result of the surface tension across the interface, the PAC selfreorganizes at the air-water interface.…”