Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 20, 2026

Self-assembling Morphologies Obtained from Helical Polycarbodiimide Copolymers and Their Triazole Derivatives
Published on: February 7, 2017
Oligomer orientation in vapor-molecular-layer-deposited alkyl-aromatic polyamide films
Qing Peng1, Kirill Efimenko, Jan Genzer
1Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, United States. qing.peng@duke.edu
Abstract:
The surface-limited molecular-layer deposition of alkyl-aromatic polyamide films using sequential doses of 1,4-butane diamine (BDA) and terephthaloyl dichloride (TDC) is characterized using in situ quartz crystal microbalance and ex situ spectroscopy analysis. For the first time, near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy is used to offer insight into molecular orientation in films deposited via molecular-layer deposition (MLD). The results show that the oligomer units are lying nearly parallel to the surface, which differs from the linear vertical growth mode often used to illustrate film growth.
Related Concept Videos
Polymer Classification: Crystallinity
Crystalline domains are the regions where polymer chains are aligned in an orderly manner and held together in proximity by intermolecular forces. For example, chains in the crystalline domains of polyethylene and nylon are bound together by van der Waals...
Polymer Classification: Stereospecificity
Olefin Metathesis Polymerization: Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization (ROMP)
Characteristics and Nomenclature of Copolymers
Polymer Classification: Architecture
Free-Radical Chain Reaction and Polymerization of Alkenes

