| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/S60419/02 |
| Title: |
Self-organised 2-D & 3-D Arrays of Stimulus Responsive Block Copolymer Micelles |
| Principal Investigator: |
Armes, Professor SP |
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| Department: |
Chemistry |
| Organisation: |
University of Sheffield |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 August 2004 |
Ends: |
31 March 2007 |
Value (£): |
175,890
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Complex fluids & soft solids |
Materials Characterisation |
| Materials Synthesis & Growth |
Surfaces & Interfaces |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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The formation of functionalised, smart surface coatings with a well-organised nanostructure on a solid substrate is one of the key challenges for the development of 'platform' technologies for the so-called 'nanotechnology revolution'. While considerable progress in the development of 2-D films has been made, little progress has been reported for well-organised 3-D films. Ultimately, the development of higher order functional nanomaterials requires a fine control over the 3-D location of each component; this is a significant problem. The current proposal addresses this knowledge gap through a systematic investigation of the conditions necessary to develop 3-D surface coatings using stimulus-responsive block copolymer micelles. Significantly, the research is a multi-disciplinary effort involving synthetic polymer chemistry and surface science. New anionic stimulus sensitive block copolymers and microgels will be developed during this project. For the film formation, we propose to utilise a layer-bylayer (LbL) deposition technique, with alternate layers using oppositely charged micelles, to fabricate the 3-D films. Detailed analysis of the films will be performed using techniques such as soft-contact AFM (morphology) and quartz crystal microbalance (kinetics of adsorption and adsorbed amounts).
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.shef.ac.uk |