End-functional poly(ether amic acid)s and poly(siloxane imide) multiblock copolymers, comprised of 2,2'-Bis[4-(3,4-dicarboxyphenoxy)phenyl]propane dianhydride (BPADA) / meta-phenylene diamine (MPDA) and hexafluoroisopropylidene-2-bis(phthalic acid anhydride) (6FDA) / meta-phenylene diamine (MPDA) polyimide segments, have been prepared and characterized to explore possibilities for controlling interface properties. Incorporation of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) components into polyimide backbone structures can yield advantageous properties such as low energy surfaces and low stress interfaces. End-functional BPDA/MPDA poly(amic acid) salts and poly(siloxane amic acid) salts were prepared in methanolic or aqueous tripropylamine solutions. The polymeric salts formed stable water solutions (or dispersions) and imidized in less than 10 minutes at 260°C. The water solubility and rapid imidization times are ideal for on-line processing. Thus, these materials can be used as sizing and interface toughening agents for fiber reinforced composite manufacturing. Epoxy-polyimide networks prepared from the amine functionalized polyimide with DER 331 epoxy resin and diamino diphenylsulfone showed microphase separation (100-300 nm inclusions) by transmission electron microscopy. Slight toughening of the cured epoxy with 9 weight % imide was observed with the imide as the included phase. Epoxy bilayer films of polyimide (amine end-functional and commercial Ultem™) and poly(siloxane imide) multiblock copolymers were prepared to evaluate the polymer-matrix interphase region. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis of the bilayer films showed diffusion at the interphase for the bilayers prepared with the polyimides and the BPADA/MPDA block copolymers containing polyimide continuous phases. Poly(siloxane imide) multiblock copolymers comprised of 6FDA/MPDA polyimide structures are ideal candidates for controlling interfacial properties between silicon substrates layered with thin films for microelectronic applications. These high Tg materials offer an approach for obtaining reduced moisture absorption and low stress interfaces. Evaluation of the refractive indices of the block copolymer films showed a decrease with increasing siloxane content thus suggesting the possibility of lower dielectric constants. The polymer-metal interfacial properties were investigated for films cast on titanium and tantalum substrates. The results suggested a correlation between the surface hydroxyl concentration of the metal oxide layer with the interfacial properties of the cast poly(siloxane imide) block copolymer films. The surface hydroxyls were thought to hydrogen bond with the PDMS component of the block copolymer. Since the titanium substrate has a higher surface hydroxyl concentration than the tantalum, higher silicon concentrations were observed. The melt imidized end-functional polyimides and poly(siloxane imide) block copolymers produced thermally stable materials with 5% weight loss temperatures well above 400°C. However, the block copolymers showed slightly lower 5% weight loss temperatures as a function of siloxane content with a significant increase in char formation. Correlation of the upper glass transition temperatures with the imide segment length was consistent with findings noted for other phase separated randomly segmented block copolymers. Incorporating PDMS into the polyimide backbone structure has an effect on the bulk and surface properties. The bulk properties of the poly(siloxane imide) block copolymers were characterized using TEM. The morphologies were consistent with classical block copolymers. Surface properties of the block copolymer films as a function of PDMS content were investigated using angular dependent X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy at take-off angles of 15, 30, and 45°. Surface enrichment of PDMS content over that of the bulk was observed at all three sampling depths. Further evidence of this siloxane enrichment in the surface was demonstrated with water contact angle analyses. With as little as 5 weight % PDMS (<Mn> = 5000 g/mol) in the block copolymer there was over a 25% increase in the water contact angle over the polyimide control. The surface topography was influenced by the degree of phase separation and was characterized using AFM. The roughness factor was used to represent the data. It was found that the surface roughness increased with increasing PDMS content. / Ph. D.

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The wetting behavior of water on methacrylate copolymer films was studied on anodically oxidized and micro-roughened aluminium surfaces and also on smooth model surfaces. The copolymerization of tert-butyl methacrylate with a methacrylate containing a fluoroorganic side chain led to a considerable decrease of the surface free energy, but not to a superhydrophobic behavior of polymer-coated, micro-roughened aluminium surfaces. However, copolymers containing both hydrophobic and hydrophilic sequences are able to form superhydrophobic films. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed that an enrichment of the interface between the solid phase and the air by fluorine-containing polymer components was the reason for the strong decrease of the surface free energy. The hydrophilic segments of the copolymers improved the ability to wet the highly polar aluminium surface and to form films of higher density.

This PhD project investigated the ramifications of air-cured and nitrogen-cured manufacturing processes during silicone hydrogel contact lens manufacture in terms of lens surface characterisation and clinical performance. A one-hour contralateral clinical study was conducted for ten subjects to compare the clinical performance of the two study lenses. The main clinical findings were reduced levels of subjective performance, reduced surface wettability and increased deposition. Contact angle analysis showed the air-cured lenses had consistently higher advancing and receding contact angle measurements, in comparison with the nitrogen-cured lens. Chemical analysis of the study lens surfaces in the dehydrated state, by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), showed no difference due to surface segregation of the silicone components. Analysis of frozen lenses limited surface segregation and showed a higher concentration of silicone polymer components and lower concentration of hydrophilic polymer components at the surface of the air-cured lens, in comparison with the nitrogen-cured lens. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) imaging showed the nitrogen-cured lens to have a surface typical of a hydrogel material, whereas the air-cured lens had regions of apparent phase separation. In addition, atomic force microscopy (AFM) showed the air-cured lens to have a rougher surface associated with greater adherence of contaminants (often observed in materials with reduced polymer cross-linking). In conclusion, clinical assessment of the study lenses confirmed the inferior performance of the air-cured lens. Surface analysis suggested that the non-wetting regions on the air-cured lenses were associated with elevated level of silicone components, reduced polymer cross-linking and polymer phase separation.

Abstract In this thesis oxidation of a pure and alloyed Cu surface was studied using density functional theory based calculations. The mechanism and energetics behind experimentally observed missing row reconstruction on a pure Cu(100) surface were studied. Examination of the formation of the missing row was approached by studying the profitableness of vacancy formation to the surface at oxygen coverages below and equal to 0.5 ML. However, an ideal surface was in all cases more favourable in energy than vacancy included structures. Therefore an additional Cu atom was added to the simulation cell to promote vacancy formation. A consequence of this on-surface Cu addition was the identifying of a new energetically favoured Cu-O-Cu chain formation. This newly identified structure is a possible transition state in the path from an ideal surface to a reconstructed one. Copper(I)oxide formation through sub-surface adsorption was examined on a reconstructed Cu(100) surface. At low O coverage on-surface adsorption was found to be much more favoured than adsorption on sub-surface sites. However, when coverage increased to 0.75 ML structures with both on-surface and sub-surface adsorbates possessed the lowest energy. Furthermore, the diffusion barriers to the sub-surface adsorption sites were low. Both these facts support the conclusion that the transition from the reconstructed missing row structure to the copper(I)oxide takes place without any large energy effort. The adsorption induced segregation of copper on a Ag/Cu(100) surface was studied by calculating the surface energies of slabs where the silver layer was positioned at different depths with varying O coverage. In addition, the segregation energies were also calculated with two Ag compositions. It was discovered that without oxygen adsorbates silver atoms lying on top of the surface were favoured but the surface segregation probability of Cu increases with increasing O coverage. The same calculation procedure was expanded to study the segregation probability of five additional alloy metals with a Cu surface. Without oxygen present Mg, Al and Zn possess a weak tendency to segregate to the surface, however, V and Cr prefer to stay in the bulk. The addition of oxygen adsorbates on the surface causes the segregation of all the dopants to the top of the surface. With the Al dopant the effect of the surface orientation and the oxygen coverage were also studied. The bonds between adsorbates and the surface were strongest with the densest surface, (111), and weakest with the most opened surface, (110). Furthermore, the enrichment probability was largest in the case of the (111) surface and lowest with the (110) surface. Probability increased with increasing oxygen coverage. / Tiivistelmä Tässä väitöstyössä on tutkittu puhtaan ja seostetun kuparipinnan hapettumista tiheysfunktionaaliteoriaan perustuvilla laskuilla. Kokeellisesti Cu(100) pinnan on havaittu rekonstruoituvan hapen vaikutuksesta. Rekonstruoitumisen aikana ideaalisesta pinnasta irtoaa joka neljäs pintakuparirivi ja muodostuu niin kutsuttu missing row- rakenne. Tämän rakenteen muodostumismekanismia ja muodostumiseen kuluvaa energiaa tutkittiin vertaamalla pintavakansillisten rakenteiden pintaenergioita vastaaviin ideaalipinnan arvoihin vaihtelevalla happipeitolla. Koska ideaalipinta oli kaikilla peittoasteilla energeettisesti suotuisampi kuin vakanssirakenne, yksittäisiä kupariatomeja lisättiin pinnalle stabiloimaan vakanssirakenteita. Kuparilisäyksen seurauksena löydettiin uusi energeettisesti edullinen Cu-O-Cu ketjurakenne. Tämä rakenne on mahdollinen ideaalisen ja rekonstruoituneen pinnan välinen siirtymätila. Kupari(I)oksidin muodostumista pinnanalaisen happiadsorption kautta tutkittiin rekonstruoituneella Cu(100) pinnalla. Pienillä happi-peittoasteilla pinnanpäällisen adsorption havaittiin olevan huomattavasti suotuisampaa kuin pinnanalaisen adsorption. Kuitenkin happi peiton kasvaessa 0,75 ML:iin rakenteet, joissa oli adsorbaatteja sekä pinnan alla että päällä, tulivat muita suotuisimmiksi. Myös lasketut energiavallit hapen diffuusiolle pinnalta pinnan alle olivat hyvin pieniä. Kaikki tulokset viittaavat siihen, että rekonstruoitunut Cu(100) pinta hapettuu helposti kupari(I)oksidiksi. Happiadsorption aikaansaamaa kuparin rikastumista (segregaatio) hopeakupariseosmetallin pinnalle tutkittiin laskemalla vaihtelevilla happipeitoilla pintaenergiat kuparipinnoille, joissa ensimmäinen, toinen ja kolmas kuparikerros oli korvattu hopealla. Myös segregaatioenergiat laskettiin kahdella eri seoskoostumuksella. Saatujen tulosten mukaan ilman happiadsoptiota hopea segregoituu pinnalle, kun taas hapen peittoasteen kasvaessa kupari rikastuu pinnalle. Samaa tutkimustapaa käytettiin myös tarkasteltaessa viiden muun seosmetallin segregaatiotodennäköisyyttä kuparipinnalla. Ilman pintahappea magnesiumilla, alumiinilla ja sinkillä oli heikko taipumus rikastua pinnalle, kun taas vanadium ja kromi pysyivät syvemmällä metallissa. Sen sijaan happea lisättäessä kaikki tutkitut seosmetallit pyrkivät siirtymään kohti pintaa. Myös hapen peiton sekä pintaorientaation vaikutusta segregaatioon tutkittiin hopeakuparipinnalla. Sekä happiadsorbaattien ja pinnan välinen sidos että segregaatiotodennäköisyys oli sitä voimakkaampaa, mitä tiheämmästä pinnasta oli kyse. Segregaatiotodennäköisyys kasvoi pinta-adsorption lisääntyessä.

The wetting behavior of water on methacrylate copolymer films was studied on anodically oxidized and micro-roughened aluminium surfaces and also on smooth model surfaces. The copolymerization of tert-butyl methacrylate with a methacrylate containing a fluoroorganic side chain led to a considerable decrease of the surface free energy, but not to a superhydrophobic behavior of polymer-coated, micro-roughened aluminium surfaces. However, copolymers containing both hydrophobic and hydrophilic sequences are able to form superhydrophobic films. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed that an enrichment of the interface between the solid phase and the air by fluorine-containing polymer components was the reason for the strong decrease of the surface free energy. The hydrophilic segments of the copolymers improved the ability to wet the highly polar aluminium surface and to form films of higher density.

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