Effect of glucose on self-assembly of free-standing air–water interfacial lamellar ZrO2 films

A series of free-standing air–water interfacial ZrO2 films have been self-assembled, using sodium dodecyl sulfonate (SDS) as template, glucose (Glu) as cosurfactant and zirconium(IV) butoxide as precursor. The formed nanostructures of ZrO2 films have been carefully characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). Results show that the as-prepared ZrO2 films display significant structural changes by adjusting the mass ratios of Glu to SDS. An architectural model based on SDS packing and charge-density matching has been proposed to illustrate the effect of Glu on various self-assembled nanostructures of ZrO2 films.