Docosanoyl itaconate/1-docosylamine alternate-layer Langmuir–Blodgett films: polymerisation, pyroelectric properties and infrared spectroscopic studies

Abstract

Langmuir–Blodgett multilayers of an isomeric mixture of an itaconate monoester have been prepared. Multilayers were polymerised via initiation by irradiation with ultraviolet light and the reactions studied by UV–VIS spectrophotometry and gel permeation chromatography. Alternate-layer structures of the itaconate monomer and the corresponding polymer with an aliphatic amine have also been built-up. X-Ray reflectivity experiments have indicated that the bilayer spacing of these films did not change upon polymerisation. An evaluation of the pyroelectric properties of the alternate-layer structures revealed that, although the monomer/amine system possessed a pyroelectric coefficient of 1.4 µC m^–2 K^–1, polymer/amine films were not pyroelectric. The mechanism responsible for the loss of the pyroelectric activity is discussed on the basis of infrared spectroscopic investigations.