Fractal Growth of Giant Amphiphiles in Langmuir-Blodgett Films

Fractal structures have attracted considerable scientific interest, and fractal geometry is an effective tool to study the complicated structure and dynamic processes, such as dilation symmetry of disorder structure, percolation, gelation, and metal-insulator transition. Here, we summarized our findings of fractal growth of giant amphiphiles in Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) film. Giant amphiphiles composed of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) derivatives and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), with structural diversities of POSS head modification, POSS head number, PEO chain length, are precisely synthesized. The effect of molecular structures and operation parameters on the fractal growth patterns are discussed, in addition, other fractal growth patterns in LB films and in Langmuir films are included, aiming to understand the basic molecular principle of fractal growth in LB system.

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This article summarizes the findings of fractal growth of giant amphiphiles in Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films and discusses the effects of molecular structures and operation parameters on the fractal growth patterns. The aim of the study is to understand the basic molecular principle of fractal growth in LB systems.