Langmuir and langmuir-blodgett films of metallosupramolecular polyelectrolyte-amphiphile complexes

A detailed analysis of a metallosupramolecular polyelectrolyte-amphiphile complex (PAC) at the air-water interface is presented. Langmuir isotherms, Brewster angle microscopy, and X-ray reflectance and diffraction methods are employed to investigate the structure of the Langmuir monolayers. The PAC is self-assembled from 1,3-bis[4'-oxa-(2,2':6',2' '-terpyridinyl)]propane, iron acetate, and dihexadecyl phosphate (DHP). Spreading the PAC at the air-water interface results in a monolayer that consists of two strata. DHP forms a monolayer at the top of the interface, while the metallosupramolecular polyelectrolyte is immersed in the aqueous subphase. Both strata are coupled to each other through electrostatic interactions. The monolayers can be transferred onto solid substrates, resulting in well-ordered multilayers. Such multilayers are model systems for well-ordered metal ions in two dimensions.