@article{KathreinBaiCurrivanIncorviaetal.2015, author = {Kathrein, Christine C. and Bai, Wubin and Currivan-Incorvia, Jean Anne and Liontos, George and Ntetsikas, Konstantinos and Avgeropoulos, Apostolos and B{\"o}ker, Alexander and Tsarkova, Larisa and Ross, Caroline A.}, title = {Combining Graphoepitaxy and Electric Fields toward Uniaxial Alignment of Solvent-Annealed Polystyrene-b-Poly(dimethylsiloxane) Block Copolymers}, series = {Chemistry of materials : a publication of the American Chemical Society}, volume = {27}, journal = {Chemistry of materials : a publication of the American Chemical Society}, number = {19}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, address = {Washington}, issn = {0897-4756}, doi = {10.1021/acs.chemmater.5b03354}, pages = {6890 -- 6898}, year = {2015}, abstract = {We report a combined directing effect of the simultaneously applied graphoepitaxy and electric field on the self-assembly of cylinder forming polystyrene-b-poly(dimethylsiloxane) block copolymer in thin films. A correlation length of up to 20 mu m of uniaxial ordered striped patterns is an order of magnitude greater than that produced by either graphoepitaxy or electric field alignment alone and is achieved at reduced annealing times. The angle between the electric field direction and the topographic guides as well as the dimensions of the trenches affected both the quality of the ordering and the direction of the orientation of cylindrical domains: parallel or perpendicular to the topographic features. We quantified the interplay between the electric field and the geometry of the topographic structures by constructing the phase diagram of microdomain orientation. This combined approach allows the fabrication of highly ordered block copolymer structures using macroscopically prepatterned photolithographic substrates.}, language = {en} } @article{LopezManovaHoppeetal.2018, author = {Lopez, Carlos G. and Manova, Anna and Hoppe, Corinna and Dreja, Michael and Schmiedel, Peter and Job, Mareile and Richtering, Walter and B{\"o}ker, Alexander and Tsarkova, Larisa A.}, title = {Combined UV-Vis-absorbance and reflectance spectroscopy study of dye transfer kinetics in aqueous mixtures of surfactants}, series = {Colloids and surfaces : an international journal devoted to the principles and applications of colloid and interface science ; A, Physicochemical and engineering aspects}, volume = {550}, journal = {Colloids and surfaces : an international journal devoted to the principles and applications of colloid and interface science ; A, Physicochemical and engineering aspects}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0927-7757}, doi = {10.1016/j.colsurfa.2018.04.024}, pages = {74 -- 81}, year = {2018}, abstract = {We report an analytical approach to study the competitive processes of solubilisation in micelles and of adsorption onto hydrophobic surfaces of poorly soluble hydrophobic dyes. The method is demonstrated on model systems containing two sources of Disperse Red 60: a bulk powder and a donor red textile, with molecularly dissolved dye stabilised in an aqueous environment by mixed micelles of anionic and non-ionic surfactants. The process of dye transfer between a donor textile (red polyester), surfactant micelles and an acceptor textile (white polyamide) was quantified by a combination of colorimetric analyses. UV-Vis absorbance was used to follow the extraction of the dye and to evaluate the solubilisation capacity of the micellar solution. A calibration curve for textile reflectance versus the adsorbed dye was generated to quantify the mass of dye transferred onto the acceptor textile. A combination of both techniques allowed us to compare the amount of dye desorbed from the donor textile and adsorbed onto the acceptor textile as a function of time for systems undergoing exhaustion-solubilisation mechanisms and only solubilisation mechanism. Up to similar or equal to 10 min of the washing process, the released dye is predominantly solubilised in surfactant micelles. At later times, the adsorption of the dye on the hydrophobic surface is energetically favoured. The shift of the desorption equilibrium in the presence of the acceptor textile results in similar or equal to 30\% increase in the release of the dye. The reported methodology provides direct comparative analysis between the solubilisation capacity of amphiphilic stabilisers and the tendency of the dye to adsorb on solid substrates, important for designing novel concepts of disperse dye solubilisation and dye transfer inhibition during textile washing.}, language = {en} } @article{KathreinBaiNunnsetal.2016, author = {Kathrein, Christine C. and Bai, Wubin and Nunns, Adam and Gwyther, Jessica and Manners, Ian and B{\"o}ker, Alexander and Tsarkova, Larisa and Ross, Caroline A.}, title = {Electric field manipulated nanopatterns in thin films of metalorganic 3-miktoarm star terpolymers}, series = {Soft matter}, volume = {12}, journal = {Soft matter}, publisher = {Royal Society of Chemistry}, address = {Cambridge}, issn = {1744-683X}, doi = {10.1039/c6sm00451b}, pages = {4866 -- 4874}, year = {2016}, abstract = {We report the effect of electric field on the morphological transitions and ordering behavior of polyferrocenylethylmethylsilane block (PFEMS)-containing copolymers. By analyzing structures in solvent-annealed films of metalorganic sphere-and cylinder-forming diblock copolymers, as well as of 3-miktoarm polyisoprene-arm-polystyrene-arm-PFEMS (3 mu-ISF) terpolymers, we decouple two types of responses to the electric field: morphological transformations as a result of an increase in the volume fraction of the PFEMS block by oxidation of the ferrocenyl groups, and the orientation of the dielectric interfaces of microdomains parallel to the electric field vector. In the case of 3m-ISF, the former effect dominates at high electric field strengths which results in an unexpected cylinder-to-sphere transition, leading to a well-ordered hexagonal dot pattern. Our results demonstrate multiple tunability of ordered microdomain morphologies, suggesting future applications in nanofabrication and surface patterning.}, language = {en} }