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Surface Nanostructure Control with Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) Spacer by Templateless Electropolymerization

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Abstract

Controlling the shape of surface nanostructures is fundamental for various potential applications for examples, in water harvesting systems, liquid transportation or oil/water separation membranes. In this paper, the creation of porous surface structures is made by a process called templateless electropolymerization, in which water (H2O) is oxidized/reduced to form gas (O2/H2) bubbles onto the surfaces and acting as soft template for the polymer growth. Keeping the monomer (thieno[3,4-b]thiophene) and the substituent (pyrene) constant, we demonstrate how a flexible PEG spacer can affect the structure shape. When the PEG spacer increases, the structures change from nanotubes (1D growth) to nanoribbons (2D) and after to hollow nanospheres (3D), which also affects the wetting properties.

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Acknowledgment

The group thanks Christelle Boscagli from the Centre Commun de Microscopie Appliquée (CCMA, Université Côte d’Azur) for the preparation of the substrates necessary for the SEM analyses. This work has been supported by CNRS GDR 2088 « BIOMIM ».

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Structural Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences of Tunis, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, 2092, Tunisia

    Imen Bousrih, Mejda El Kateb & Mohammed Beji

  2. NICE Lab, Université Côte d’Azur, Parc Valrose Nice, 06100, France

    Frédéric Guittard & Thierry Darmanin

Authors
  1. Imen Bousrih
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  2. Mejda El Kateb
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  3. Mohammed Beji
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  4. Frédéric Guittard
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  5. Thierry Darmanin
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Correspondence to Thierry Darmanin.

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Bousrih, I., El Kateb, M., Beji, M. et al. Surface Nanostructure Control with Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) Spacer by Templateless Electropolymerization. J Bionic Eng 18, 65–76 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42235-021-0003-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42235-021-0003-5

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