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Study of gas transport through composite membranes with a stabilised Langmuir-Blodgett skin layer
(1995)
The Langmuir-Blodgett (LB-) technique is used to deposit molecular reinforced separation layers on porous polymer substrates resulting in composite membranes for gas separation. The adsorption of a polycation to the arachidic acid Langmuir layer and the subsequent transfer of the highly ordered and stabilised monolayer onto a polypropylene membrane (Cellgard 2400) yields a laminated separation layer combining the advantageous high degree of order of fatty acid films and the stability of thin polymeric films. X-ray reflectivity data of these films confirm the transfer of the assembled polymer layer together with the fatty acid monolayer and the formation of ordered Y-type LB-films. SFM pictures show a dense film without pinholes completely covering the porous support. Gas permeation measurements are used to study the transport process of different gases through the composite membrane.
Langmuir-Blodgett films of zinc 11,18,25-tri(tert-butyl)-4-sulfo-phthalocyanine (ZNPctSO3Na) have been deposited onto hydrophilic and hydrophobic silicon wafers. Y-type films were formed on both types of substrate, and the transfer ratio was very close to unity. The organization of the films on the molecular level was probed by X-ray specular reflectivity.
The molecular in-plane structure of uranyl arachidate Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films formed at different subphase pH values was analysed by means of X-ray grazing-incidence diffraction. For multilayers formed at low subphase pH a reorganisation of the arachidic acid film structure is confirmed. At appropriate subphase pH values, reorganisation of the film structure, e.g. via the formation of three-dimensional crystallites, is prevented by the presence of the uranyl ions and by the subsequent introduction of conformational disorder (gauche defects) in the alkyl chains. The observation of a macroscopic flow-induced in-plane texture in these uranyl arachidate LB films has profound implications for the design of ordered, supramolecular structures by the Langmuir-Blodgett technique.
The complexation of highly ordered fatty acid monolayers with polyelectrolytes is expected to yield well- ordered Langmuir films suitable for the formation of Langmuir-Blodgett multilayers with improved long-term stability. Studies of the surface pressure-area isotherms and of the surface potential kinetics yield detailed information regarding the influence of these polymeric counterions on the monolayer properties. The injection of bivalent metal salts into the subphase after the complexation was used to improve the order and stability of the mono- and multilayers. The corresponding Langmuir-Blodgett films were investigated by means of X-ray reflectivity measurements and scanning force microscopy. The polyion complex multilayers show a strongly increased mechanical stability compared with films of fatty acid salts formed with bivalent metal ions. These structures are expected to be suitable as ultrathin separation layer for gas separation or ultrafiltration membranes.
Langmuir-Blodgett films of bolaamphiphiles with reactive head groups can be used for the surface modification of composite membranes for gas separation processes. The scope of our investigations was to get a detailed insight in the monolayer behaviour and LB film structure of previously synthesized bisaroyl azide bolaamphiphiles. The layers have been analyses by means of surface potential measurements and Brewster angle microscopy. Furthermore parameters for a successful LB Film deposition were found. As expected for a molecule with two hydrophilic ends the transfer ratio on upstroke was close to one and on downstroke no transfer occurred. The multilayer structure was analysed by scanning force microscopy and X-ray reflectivity measurements. The SFM images revealed a periodic in plane structure on molecular level. Based on a combination of the X-ray data with results of other methods two possible models of the multilayer structure are presented
In this second paper we describe the comprehensive structure investigations on multilayers of uranyl arachidate formed by Langmuir-Blodgett deposition from subphases of different pH on solid substrates by means of a combination of infrared spectroscopy, X-ray specular reflection, ellipsometry, and scanning force microscopy, The structure of these multilayers and their stability are obviously influenced by the subphase pH. The pH range of the acid to salt conversion determined for the Langmuir films is confirmed by the infrared spectroscopic data of the multilayers. While arachidic acid films, deposited from an uranyl acetate subphase of low pH, are found to have strongly distorted rough surface, the films of uranyl structure, The influence of the counterions on the alkyl chain conformation, chain packing, reorganization probability, and stability of the multilayer is discussed.