Evaporation-Induced Self-Assembly of Mesoscopically Ordered Organic/Organosilica Nanocomposite Thin Films with Photoluminescent Properties and Improved Hardness

We report the use of evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) to organize and chemically bind a functionalized organic material, N,N′-bis(4-tert-butylphenyl)-N,N′-bis(4-((E)-2-(triethoxysilyl)vinyl)phenyl)biphenyl-4,4′-diamine (3), into the ordered nanochannels within an organosilica matrix based on 1,2-bis(triethoxysilyl)ethane (BTSE). Characterization techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and nitrogen absorption/desorption (BET) were used to show that the EISA derived thin films and powders are highly ordered with compound 3 occupying and chemically bound within the nanochannels. Furthermore, photoluminescent spectroscopy (PL) and nanoindentation show these materials have unique PL properties with hardness values twice of their nonordered counterparts.