Self-replicating amphiphilic monolayers

Abstract

MOLECULAR films with predetermined layered structures can be engineered by using techniques such as the Langmuir–Blodgett method1,2 and self-assembly1,3–9 to deposit discrete monolayers sequentially on a substrate. Such films might have a variety of uses—as smart surface coatings, nonlinear optical materials and in tribology, for example. Here we report the replicative growth of a molecular film of self-assembling silane bilayers with hydrogen-interlayer polar regions into which further identical bilayers can be intercalated. The intercalation step is triggered by a chemical treatment and so can be carried out controllably, allowing duplication in one step of an entire multilayer structure. In this way, we can achieve the stepwise exponential growth of a multilayer film with a predictable number of stacked bilayers.