They were dissolved in optical-grade chloroform from Tokyo Kasei Kogyo (Tokyo, Japan) with a molar mixing ratio MS/C20 = 1:2. The monolayers were prepared on a Cd2+-containing subphase and this website successively deposited onto one side of a substrate using the conventional vertical dipping technique as described in our previous papers [18–21]. Glass substrates with a dimension of 38 × 13 × 1 mm3 cut from ordinary glass slide from Matsunami Glass Ind., Ltd. (Type S-1111, Kishiwada, Japan) were coated by five-layered

LB films of cadmium arachidate prior to the deposition of the mixed MS-C20 LB film. Three different layered structures were constructed, as shown in Figure 2: in panel a, ten layers of MS-C20 [10 × (MS-C20)/5 × (C20)/glass]; in panel b, four layers of MS-C20 [2 × (C20)/4 × (MS-C20)/5 × (C20)/glass]; and in panel c, two layers of MS-C20 [2 × (C20)/4 × (MS-C20)/5 × (C20)/glass]. The surfaces of the four- and two-layered MS-C20 films were covered by double layers of cadmium arachidate [2 × (C20)] for stability, as shown in Figure 2a,b, respectively. The mixed MS-C20 LB systems were of selleck screening library Y-type with a deposition ratio of approximately unity for both upward and downward

strokes. Figure 2 Schematic representations of the layered structures of the as-deposited LB films of three different types. (a) Ten layers AZD0156 chemical structure of MS-C20 [10 × (MS-C20) /5 × (C20)/ glass], (b) four layers selleck chemicals llc of MS-C20 [2 × (C20) /4 × (MS-C20) /5 × (C20) /glass], and (c) two layers of MS-C20 [2 × (C20)/4 × (MS-C20)/5 × (C20)/glass], where ‘2 × (C20)’ denotes a double layer of cadmium arachidate for coating the

MS-C20 surface for stability. Hydrothermal treatment procedure The as-deposited films were put in an aluminum tube (ca. 20 mm in diameter and 150 mm long) together with pure water of 2 mL, as shown in Figure 3. The sample was raised to avoid direct immersion in water inside the aluminum tube using a spacer. After a screw lid was put on top of the case and tightly sealed using a Teflon tape, the case was immersed in a water bath kept at 80°C for 60 min and then cooled down to room temperature.a In the aluminum tube of 50 mL, the amount of pure water (2 mL) is estimated to be enough to realize relative humidity of 100% with a positive pressure of about several bars during the heat treatment [21]. Figure 3 The procedure of the hydrothermal treatment (HTT). An aluminum tube (ca. 20 mm in diameter and 150 mm long) was first filled with pure water of 2 mL. The LB sample was put in the tube using a spacer to prevent direct contact of the sample with the water. Finally, the tube was closed by a screw lid using a Teflon tape and immersed in a water bath kept at 80°C.