Elastomeric suspended membranes generated via Langmuir-Blodgett transfer

Elastomeric freely suspended membranes have been prepared via Langmuir-Blodgett transfer of crosslinked monolayers of polyisoprenes with anthracene side chains and sulfonate headgroups. The polymers, which have a chain length of approximately 540 repeat units and on average 8 anthracene side chains per polymer molecule, were spread at an air-water interface from chloroform/ethanol solutions and laterally compressed to an average area per molecule of 200 Angstrom(2). These monolayers were cross-linked via irradiation with UV light of wavelength 305-420 nm and then transferred to a brass plate with a circular hole of 0.4 mm diameter. The approximately 40 nm thick cross-linked monolayers completely covered the hole. It was possible to elastically deform the resulting suspended membrane by applying an overpressure from one side.