Atomic force microscopy study of single macromolecules and the nanostructure of carbosilane liquid crystalline dendrimer mono- and multilayers

Molecular resolution that allowed the packing of liquid crystal (LC) dendri mers in monolayers on a silicon substrate surface to be studied on the mole cular scale was first achieved in atomic force microscopic measurements of the monolayers of carbosilane LC dendrimers of the fourth and fifth generat ions. It was shown that the molecules of such dendrimers are monodisperse s pherical particles having a "hard" core, the carbosilane dendrite matrix, a nd a "soft" shell composed of long aliphatic spacers with mesogenic end gro ups. A difference in the molecular packing of LC dendrimers depending on th e type of mesogenic end groups and the dendrimer generation number was reve aled. The obtained results are indicative of a considerable increase in the rigidity of carbosilane LC dendrimers in passing from generation 3 to gene ration 5.