We here report on the formation of well-ordered 2D gold nanostructures at the air/water interface. Spreading a mixture of alkanethiol-capped gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and an amphiphilic poly(p-phenylene) on a water surface and compressing the mixture to a surface pressure of 40 mN/m lead to the formation of a network of well-ordered gold nanostructures. The structures are transferred horizontally (Langmuir-Schäfer) onto a solid substrate and investigated with TEM, AFM, and X-ray reflectivity, showing a pattern that is repeating over several micrometers. AFM and X-ray reflectivity data at different surface pressures reveal that the polymer is lifting the AuNPs 1.5-2 nm in the vertical direction, away from the polymer layer, when the pressure is increased from 20 to 40 mN/m.

Micro‐ and nanostructuring of conjugated polymers are of critical importance in the fabrication of molecular electronic devices as well as photonic and bandgap materials. The present report delineates the single‐step self‐organization of highly ordered structures of functionalized poly(p‐phenylene)s without the aid of either a controlled environment or expensive fabrication methodologies. Microporous films of these polymers, with a honeycomb pattern, were prepared by direct spreading of the dilute polymer solution on various substrates, such as glass, quartz, silicon wafer, indium tin oxide, gold‐coated mica, and water, under ambient conditions. The polymeric film obtained from C12PPPOH comprises highly periodic, defect‐free structures with blue‐light‐emitting properties. It is expected that such microstructured, conjugated polymeric films will have interesting applications in photonic and optoelectronic devices. The ability of the polymer to template the facile micropatterning of nanomaterials gives rise to hybrid films with very good spatial dispersion of the carbon nanotubes.

Ultrathin films of a cross-linked and chemically distinct conjugated poly(p-phenylene) network via electropolymerization are described. The amphiphilic network precursor was synthesized by incorporating the alkoxy carbazole group (-O(CH2)5Cb) to a poly(p-phenylene) (C6PPPOH) backbone. In order to investigate the combined thin film electrochemical and photophysical properties of poly(p-phenylene)s and polycarbazole conjugated polymers, C6PPPC5Cb was deposited on substrates using the Langmuir Blodgett Kuhn (LBK) method. The monolayer isotherm of the polymer, C6PPPC5Cb, showed a liquid expanded region slightly different from the parent polymer C6PPPOH. Multilayers (up to 30 layers) were transferred to different substrates such as quartz, gold coated LaSFN9 and ITO substrates for analysis. For conversion to a conjugated polymer network (CPN) film, the electroactive carbazole group was electropolymerized using cyclic voltammetry (CV) resulting in polycarbazole linking units. The differences in the film properties and corresponding changes in the electrochemical behavior indicate the importance of film thickness and electron/ion transport process in cross linked network films. From the electrochemical studies, the scan rate was found to have a considerable effect on electropolymerization with higher oxidation and reduction peak values found for the rigid network polymer compared to the uncrosslinked polymers.