In-situ x-ray scattering study of continuous silica-surfactant self-assembly during steady-state dip coating.

Journal Article · Sat Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2002 · Proposed for publication in J. Physical Chemistry B.

OSTI ID:893970

Hurd, Alan J; Gibaud, Alain; Brinker, C Jeffrey; Dunphy, Darren Robert; van Swol, Frank B; Wang, Jin ^[1]; MacPhee, Andrew ^[1]; Malanoski, Anthony P ^[2]; Narayanan, Suresh ^[3]; Doshi, Dhaval A ^[4]; Chen, Hongji ^[4]; Liu, Nanguo ^[4]; Reed, Scott T; Sturmayr, Dietmar ^[5]

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1. Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL
2. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
3. Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL
4. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
5. Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria

Inorganic mesoporous thin-films are import for applications such as membranes, sensors, low-dielectric-constant insulators (so-called low {kappa} dielectrics), and fluidic devices. Over the past five years, several research groups have demonstrated the efficacy of using evaporation accompanying conventional coating operations such as spin- and dip-coating as an efficient means of driving the self-assembly of homogeneous solutions into highly ordered, oriented, mesostructured films. Understanding such evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) processes is of interest for both fundamental and technological reasons. Here, the authors use spatially resolved 2D grazing incidence X-ray scattering in combination with optical interferometry during steady-state dip-coating of surfactant-templated silica thin-films to structurally and compositionally characterize the EISA process. They report the evolution of a hexagonal (p6 mm) thin-film mesophase from a homogeneous precursor solution and its further structural development during drying and calcination. Monte Carlo simulations of water/ethanol/surfactant bulk phase behavior are used to investigate the role of ethanol in the self-assembly process, and they propose a mechanism to explain the observed dilation in unit cell dimensions during solvent evaporation.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Albuquerque, NM, and Livermore, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 893970
• Report Number(s): SAND2002-1999J; TRN: US200701%%61
• Journal Information: Proposed for publication in J. Physical Chemistry B., Journal Name: Proposed for publication in J. Physical Chemistry B.
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
DIP COATING
SILICA
SURFACTANTS
X-RAY DIFFRACTION
FABRICATION