An organic–inorganic hybrid network Langmuir–Blodgett film from a benzenetriol monoalkyl ether and a siloxane

A two-dimensional (2D) network of a phenolic siloxane hybrid resin was produced through Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) technique. The 2D network was found to have a different siloxane structure compared with bulk polymer. An amphiphilic phenol, 1,3,5-benzenetriol monohexadecyl ether (C16–1,3,5-BT), was synthesized by the reaction of phloroglucinol dihydrate with 1-iodohexadecane. Chloroform solutions of C16–1,3,5-BT and trimethoxyvinylsilane (TMOVS) with various component ratio were spread on water subphases with various pH. The monolayers showed high stability against surface pressure up to over 50 mN m−1. The Brewster angle microscopy showed differently collapsed aggregate images of dots and straight lines according to the monolayer components. The incorporation of TMOVS into the LB film was confirmed from FT-IR and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The mechanical stability of the hybrid network film was indirectly evaluated by the scanning electron micrographs of the LB film covered over the porous substrate. In particular, the LB film transferred from alkaline subphase could cover over 95% of the pores with 0.1 μm diameter with ten monolayers.