title: Generalized coating route to silica and titania films with orthogonally tilted cylindrical nanopore arrays.
abstract: We describe a simple, inexpensive coating method to produce thin silica and titania films with surfactant templated, orthogonally tilted cylindrical nanopore arrays. These films can be deposited onto any substrate because orientation of the 2D hexagonally close packed (HCP) mesophases out of the plane of the film is directed by a chemically neutral sacrificial copolymer layer. Orientation of the HCP mesophases through the entire thickness of films cured in open air is achieved by limiting the coating thickness. This generalizes the coating method by making it possible to deposit oriented films on substrates of any curvature and size. We find a critical thickness between 70 and 100 nm, below which the triblock copolymer surfactant-templated HCP phase aligns completely out of the plane of glass and silicon wafer substrates. Above this thickness, the effect of the chemically neutral bottom layer does not propagate across the entire film, and alignment of the HCP mesophases parallel to the (nonpolar) air interface produces a mixed orientation.
authors.affiliation: Chemical and Materials Engineering Department, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506-0046, USA.
authors.forename: Venkat R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Koganti
authors.forename: Darren
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dunphy
authors.forename: Vignesh
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gowrishankar
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: McGehee
authors.forename: Xuefa
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Stephen E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Rankin
mesh_terms: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry*; D036103:Nanotechnology; D010316:Particle Size; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry; D016062:Porosity; D011409:Propylene Glycols; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D013053:Spectrophotometry / Q000379:methods; D013499:Surface Properties; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*; D014965:X-Rays
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; C116176:PEO-PPO-PEO; D011108:Polymers; D011409:Propylene Glycols; C009495:titanium dioxide; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; D014025:Titanium