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Investigation of the Impact of Cross-Polymerization on the Structural and Frictional Properties of Alkylsilane
Jana E Black1, Andrew Z Summers2, Christopher R Iacovella3
1Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA. jana.black@vanderbilt.edu.
Abstract:
Cross-linked chemisorbed n-alkylsilane (CH3(CH2)-1Si(OH)3) monolayers on amorphous silica surfaces have been studied and their structural properties and frictional performance were compared to those of equivalent monolayers without cross-linkages. The simulations isolated for the first time the effects of both siloxane cross-linkages and the fraction of chains chemisorbed to the surface, providing insight into a longstanding fundamental question in the literature regarding molecular-level structure. The results demonstrate that both cross-linkages and the fraction of chemisorbed chains affect monolayer structure in small but measurable ways, particularly for monolayers constructed from short chains; however, these changes do not appear to have a significant impact on frictional performance.
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