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Review
. 2017 Aug 16;7(3):45.
doi: 10.3390/membranes7030045.

Breath-Figure Self-Assembly, a Versatile Method of Manufacturing Membranes and Porous Structures: Physical, Chemical and Technological Aspects

Edward Bormashenko  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Breath-Figure Self-Assembly, a Versatile Method of Manufacturing Membranes and Porous Structures: Physical, Chemical and Technological Aspects

Edward Bormashenko. Membranes (Basel). .

Abstract

The review is devoted to the physical, chemical, and technological aspects of the breath-figure self-assembly process. The main stages of the process and impact of the polymer architecture and physical parameters of breath-figure self-assembly on the eventual pattern are covered. The review is focused on the hierarchy of spatial and temporal scales inherent to breath-figure self-assembly. Multi-scale patterns arising from the process are addressed. The characteristic spatial lateral scales of patterns vary from nanometers to dozens of micrometers. The temporal scale of the process spans from microseconds to seconds. The qualitative analysis performed in the paper demonstrates that the process is mainly governed by interfacial phenomena, whereas the impact of inertia and gravity are negligible. Characterization and applications of polymer films manufactured with breath-figure self-assembly are discussed.

Keywords: breath-figures; capillary cluster; membranes; ordering; polymer solution.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Sequence of stages resulting in breath-figure self-assembly. (A–D) formation of the first row of pores; (E–G) Formation of the second row of pores.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Typical honeycomb pattern arising from breath-figure self-assembly. The pattern was obtained by dip-coating the polyethylene substrate with the solution, containing 5 wt % of polycarbonate and a mixture of chlorinated solvents, namely: dichloromethane CH2Cl2 (90 wt %)/chloroform CHCl3 (5 wt %).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Large-scale pattern typical for breath-figure self-assembly (Polystyrene (5 wt %) was dissolved in a mixture of dichloromethane CH2Cl2 (90 wt %) and chloroform CHCl3 (5 wt %) and deposited by dip-coating on the polyethylene substrate). (A) The scale bar is 100 µm; (B) the scale bar is 50 µm [97] (Copyright 2007 Wiley).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Breath-figure self-assembly taking place under drop casting is depicted. A droplet of the polymer solution is evaporated in the humid atmosphere. Water droplets are condensed at the polymer solution/vapor interface. A capillary cluster built from water droplets is formed in the vicinity of the triple (three-phase) line.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Scheme of non-coalescence of sessile droplets is depicted (see [147,148] for details).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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