Preparation and Characterization of Ultrathin Layers of Substituted Oligo- and Poly(p-phenylene)s and Mixed Layers with Octadecanethiol on Gold and Copper

Abstract

Substituted poly(p-phenylene)s were adsorbed from solution onto gold and copper and oligo(p-phenylene)s onto gold. The layers were investigated with IR spectroscopy at grazing incidence reflection, XPS, NEXAFS, ToF-SIMS, surface profilometry, AFM, SEM, optical microscopy, ellipsometry, and contact angle measurements to examine their formation and structure. The structure and the properties of the investigated layers depend not only on the chemical structure of the polymer but also on the type of substrate. On gold, the polymers form layers of 15-25 Å in thickness and the oligomers of ca. 5 Å in thickness. On copper, "thick" layers of up to 900 Å were also observed. The oligomers have a lower affinity to gold than the polymers. Mixed octadecanethiol-polymer layers were prepared by immersion of polymer-coated substrates in an octadecanethiol solution or by exposure of self-assembled monolayers of octadecanethiol to polymer solutions. The structure of the mixed layers depends on the sequence of the exposure of the two components and on the chemical structure of the polymer. In the mixed layers, structures that protrude above the surroundings were frequently detected at the surface.

The tenth anniversary of Suzuki polycondensation (SPC)

“…43,44 A long-standing problem of surface sciences, the interaction of organic compounds with metal surfaces, was addressed with polymers 12 and 13. 35 As observed earlier for rigid-rod poly(imide)s with terphenylene units (polymer 70 46,47 ), these polymers adsorb onto gold surfaces in ultrathin layers (15-25 Å) from solution. On copper, the thickness of these layers depends on the presence or absence of oxidizing agents.…”

“…This class comprises polymers 1, 11 2, 26 3, 27 4, 28 5, 29 6, 30 7, 31,32 8-11, 33,34 12, 35 13, 35 14, 36 15, 36 16-18, 37 19, 38 20, 39 21, 40,41 22, 42 and 23-25. 22 Polymer 1 is an important representative of this class, although it has not gained much importance in materials science.…”

The tenth anniversary of Suzuki polycondensation (SPC)

“…A long‐standing problem of surface sciences, the interaction of organic compounds with metal surfaces, was addressed with polymers 12 and 13 35. As observed earlier for rigid‐rod poly(imide)s with terphenylene units (polymer 70 46, 47), these polymers adsorb onto gold surfaces in ultrathin layers (15–25 Å) from solution.…”

“…This class comprises polymers 1 ,11 2 ,26 3 ,27 4 ,28 5 ,29 6 ,30 7 ,31, 32 8 – 11 ,33, 34 12 ,35 13 ,35 14 ,36 15 ,36 16 – 18 ,37 19 ,38 20 ,39 21 ,40, 41 22 ,42 and 23 – 25 22. Polymer 1 is an important representative of this class, although it has not gained much importance in materials science.…”

Mixed poly (ethylene glycol) and oligo (ethylene glycol) layers on gold as nonfouling surfaces created by backfilling

“…Brunner et al observed the formation of phase separated islands when SAM of poly(p-phenylene) was exposed to octadecane thiol. 19 Lee et al conducted backfilling studies on monolayers of thiol functionalized single strand DNA on gold with 11-mercapto-1-udecanol (Ref. 20) and also using oligo (ethylene glycol) (OEG) terminated 11-mercapto-1-udecanol molecules.…”