NER: Engineering Stable Nanoscale Conducting / Insulating Polymer Interfaces: Combinatorial Exploratory Research

薄膜在低于100 nm的厚度下会变得不稳定，这是由于有吸引力的货车范德华（VDW）相互作用。这个问题在具有大的Hamaker常数的导电和半导电聚合物中特别严重。VDW不稳定性导致去湿，并且在纳米级膜加工中必须避免。然而，在这些系统中，用于防止VDW不稳定性的鲁棒方法还没有出现。未能开发出控制不稳定性的策略，严重限制了纳米尺寸的导电聚合物薄膜的使用。为了解决这个关键的限制，本研究将探索一种创新的方法来稳定纳米导电/绝缘膜双层。研究计划和意义。纳米级导电聚合物器件需要导电/绝缘界面的多层结。由于Hamaker常数失配，VDW不稳定性可能发生在这些结处。本研究将开发一种探索性的方法来防止聚合物双层导体/绝缘体界面处的VDW不稳定性。由于之前缺乏关于纳米导电聚合物润湿稳定性的研究和理论，导致本项目具有探索性和高风险性。风险增加的实验困难，在保持一致的底物化学超过许多样品需要测试假设。为了克服这种实验效率上的限制，我们将采用高通量的测量方法对双层薄膜的稳定性进行可行性研究。具体目的：1）确定防止VDW不稳定性所需的参数，用于模型双层薄膜系统：聚（3-十一烷基联噻吩）（PUBT）/聚苯乙烯（PS），和2）将稳定性测量与Hamaker常数模型进行比较，以确定其在预测纳米级双层稳定性方面的有效性。这项工作将首次系统地测量绝缘体/半导体和绝缘体/导体薄膜双层的VDW稳定性。这项探索将设置重要的限制，并证明将纳米级导体/绝缘体结在设备架构的可行性。教育计划和意义。PI的教育目标是增加格鲁吉亚理工学院表面和胶体科学教学过程的内容、广度和包容性。为了满足这些需求，这项研究将补充PI的继续教育的推力：* 在表面和胶体科学化学工程研究生课程的发展 * 互联网上可用的表面讲座本科工程课程的例子 * 积极招募当地社区，少数民族，和代表性不足的学生， 工程研究

Thin films can become unstable at thicknesses below 100 nm, due to attractive van der Waals (VDW) interactions. This problem is particularly severe in conducting and semiconducting polymers, which have large Hamaker constants. VDW instability results in dewetting and must be avoided in nanoscale film processing. Yet, robust methods for preventing VDW instability in these systems have not emerged. A failure to develop strategies to control instability places severe limits on the use of conducting polymer thinfilms at nanoscale dimensions. To address this critical limitation, this research will explore an innovative method to stabilize nanoscale conducting / insulating film bilayers.Research Plan and Significance. Nanoscale conducting polymer devices require multilayered junctions of conducting / insulating interfaces. VDW instability is likely to occur at these junctions due to Hamaker constant mismatch. This research will develop an exploratory method to prevent VDW instability at polymer bilayer conductor / insulator interfaces.The lack of previous research and theory on nanoscale conductive polymer wetting stability leads to the exploratory, high-risk nature of this project. The risk is increased by the experimental difficulty in maintaining consistent substrate chemistry over the many samples needed to test hypotheses. To overcome this limitation in experimental efficiency, a high-throughput measurement method will be used for feasibility studies of bilayer stability.Specific Aims: 1) The parameters required to prevent VDW instability will be determined for a model bilayer thin film system: poly(3-undecybithiophene) (PUBT) / polystyrene (PS), and 2) Stability measurements will be compared to a Hamaker constant model to ascertain its effectiveness in predicting stability of nanoscale bilayers.Outcomes. The proposal work will provide the first systematic measurements of VDW stability of insulator/semiconductor and insulator/conductor thin film bilayers. This exploration will set important limitations and demonstrate the feasibility of incorporating nanoscale conductor / insulator junctions in device architectures.Educational Plan and Significance. The educational goal of the PI is to increase the content, breadth, and inclusiveness of the instructional process for surface and colloid science at Georgia Tech. To meet these needs this research will supplement the PI's continuing educational thrusts:* Development of a graduate course in surface and colloid science chemical engineering* Internet-available surface lecture examples for undergraduate engineering courses* Active recruitment of the local community, minority, and underrepresented students in engineering research.