This study is part of a joint NSF/EPRI Program on Advanced Polymeric Materials. The tribological properties of novel fluorinated ultra-thin films will be investigated. The films are composed of molecules which are designed to spontaneously absorb to solid surfaces, self-assemble, and anchor as monolayers. The polymer architectures combine amphilic structures which self- organic as monomers, produce highly ordered polymeric Langmuir- Blodgett films, and incorporate mobility and assembly via flexible linkages. Thin film chemistry will use a flexible, low surface energy siloxane backbone, which has been derivatized with self-assembling, terminally functionalized, long hydrocarbon alkyl chains for surface chemisorption, as well as mobile perfluoroalky side chains for enhanced friction properties.
