title: Superspreading on Immersed Gel Surfaces for the Confined Synthesis of Thin Polymer Films.
abstract: Liquid spreading is of significant interest in science and technology. Although surface topography engineering and liquid surface-tension regulating can facilitate spreading, the spreading layers in these strategies are inevitably inhomogeneous or contaminated with surfactants. Herein, we show a general strategy to realize the superspreading of liquids on mutually soluble gel surfaces. The cooperation of the hydraulic pressure under liquid phase and liquid-like property of gel surfaces can dramatically eliminate the local pinning effect and enhance the advancement of three-phase contact line, thus forming stable and homogeneous superspreading liquid layers. Such liquid layers can be converted into various functional thin polymer films with controlled thicknesses (nm- to µm-scale) through one-step polymerization of the reactants. Our strategy offers opportunities for large-scale synthesis of versatile functional thin films for various applications.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Environment, International Research Institute for Multidisciplinary Science, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, P.R. China.|Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P.R. China.|Laboratory of Bio-inspired Smart Interface Science, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, 100190, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Pengchao
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Feilong
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Environment, International Research Institute for Multidisciplinary Science, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Chuangqi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Bio-inspired Smart Interface Science, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, 100190, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shutao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Environment, International Research Institute for Multidisciplinary Science, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, P.R. China. liumj@buaa.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Mingjie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Environment, International Research Institute for Multidisciplinary Science, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, P.R. China. jianglei@iccas.ac.cn.|Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P.R. China. jianglei@iccas.ac.cn.|Laboratory of Bio-inspired Smart Interface Science, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, 100190, P.R. China. jianglei@iccas.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jiang
keywords: hydrogels; organogels; superspreading; thin polymer films; under-liquid