Spin-coating deposition of thermoresponsive microgel thin films

Year: 2023

Authors: Nigro V., Buratti E., Limosani F., Angelini R., Dinelli F., Franco S., Nichelatti E., Piccinini M., Vincenti MA., Montereali RM., Ruzicka B.

Autors Affiliation: ENEA CR Frascati, Fus & Technol Nucl Safety & Secur Dept, Via E Fermi 45, I-00044 Rome, Italy; Univ Ferrara, Dept Chem Pharmaceut & Agr Sci, Via L Borsari 46, I-14412 Ferrara, Italy; Univ Roma Tor Vergata, Dept Chem Sci & Technol, Via Ric Sci 1, I-00133 Rome, Italy; Natl Res Council ISC CNR, Inst Complex Syst, Ple A Moro 2, I-00185 Rome, Italy; Sapienza Univ Rome, Phys Dept, Ple A Moro 2, I-00185 Rome, Italy; Natl Res Council INO CNR, Natl Inst Opt, Via G Moruzzi 1, I-56124 Pisa, Italy; ENEA CR Casaccia, Fus & Technol Nucl Safety & Secur Dept, Via Anguillarese 301, I-00123 Rome, Italy.

Abstract: Smart surfaces and surface coatings have been attracting increasing interest in the last decades. In particular, thin films assembled from microgels offer good control of morphology, elasticity and hydrophobicity thanks to the high tunability of microgel mechanical properties and chemical composition. Among smart microgels, Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) based microgels are the most used systems for theoretical and experi-mental studies and for nanotechnological applications. When used as building blocks to fabricate 2D assemblies, they exhibit new properties offering many advantages for additional applications in different fields. Here we report a systematic investigation of aqueous suspensions of soft PNIPAM microgels through Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) and rheometry. Starting from these suspensions, optical and morphological properties of PNIPAM microgel thin films deposited by spin-coating on a glass substrate at different weight concentrations and deposition conditions are investigated through UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). Homogeneous and smooth thin films of soft PNIPAM microgels were obtained with high transparency in the whole wavelength range from the visible to the near-infrared region. Moreover, their optical properties were correlated to microgel arrangement at the solid surface that can be opportunely tuned by changing the spin-coating deposition parameters.

Journal/Review: COLLOIDS AND SURFACES A-PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND ENGINEERING ASPECTS

Volume: 674      Pages from: 131918-1  to: 131918-9

More Information: We acknowledge financial support from Regione Lazio, Italy, L.R. 13/2008, BIOTRACK project (Fluorescent Nuclear Track Detectors for Radiobiology) N.Prot. A0375-2020-36509. We acknowledge the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) for provision of synchrotron radiation facilities and would like to thank G. Manna for assistance and support in using beamline ID02 and T. Narayanan for helpful scientific discussions. We thank also the Partnership for Soft Condensed Matter (PSCM) for providing the laboratory infrastructure for sample pre-characterization and P. Lloria and L. Chiappisi for support. R.A. e B.R. acknowledge the PNRR-Rome Technopole project (B83C22002890005) .
KeyWords: Thin films; Microgels; PNIPAM; Spin-coating
DOI: 10.1016/j.colsurfa.2023.131918

Citations: 5
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