Fabrication of Gradient and Patterned Organic Thin Films by Bipolar Electrolytic Micelle Disruption Using Redox-Active Surfactants

Yaqian Zhou; Naoki Shida; Ikuyoshi Tomita; Shinsuke Inagi

doi:10.1002/anie.202103233

Fabrication of Gradient and Patterned Organic Thin Films by Bipolar Electrolytic Micelle Disruption Using Redox-Active Surfactants

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2021 Jun 21;60(26):14620-14629. doi: 10.1002/anie.202103233. Epub 2021 May 17.

Authors

Yaqian Zhou¹, Naoki Shida¹, Ikuyoshi Tomita¹, Shinsuke Inagi^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical Science and Engineering, School of Materials and Chemical Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259 Nagatsuta-cho, Midori-ku, Yokohama, 226-8502, Japan.
² PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), 4-1-8 Honcho, Kawaguchi, Saitama, 332-0012, Japan.

PMID: 33830611
DOI: 10.1002/anie.202103233

Abstract

Bipolar electrochemistry could be regarded as a powerful approach for selective surface modification due to the beneficial feature that a wirelessly controllable potential distribution on bipolar electrodes (BPEs). Herein we report a bipolar electrolytic micelle disruption (BEMD) system for the preparation of shaped organic films. A U-shaped bipolar electrolytic system with a sigmoidal potential gradient on the BPE gave gradient-thin films including various interesting organic compounds, such as a polymerizable monomer, an organic pigment and aggregation induced emission (AIE) molecules. The gradient feature was characterized by UV-Vis absorption, thickness measurements and surface morphology analysis. Corresponding patterned films were also fabricated using a cylindrical bipolar electrolytic setup that enables site-selective application of the potential on the BPE. Such a facile BEMD approach will open a long-term perspective with respect to organic film preparation.

Keywords: bipolar electrochemistry; gradient and patterned films; micelle disruption; organic films.

Abstract

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