Dendrimers at surfaces and interfaces: chemistry and applications

The highly compact and globular shape, as well as the uniform size and plur ifunctionality of dendrimers make them ideal molecular building blocks for a wide range of interfacial materials involving self-assembled monolayers, Langmuir films, multilayers, and other surface-confined assemblies. Moreove r, the study of the behavior of dendrimers at surfaces and interfaces provi des unique insight into their chemical and physical properties. Dendritic m acromolecules play an increasingly important role in the materials and surf ace sciences, where applications utilizing polymer thin films can benefit f rom their distinctive chemical and physical properties. Recent investigatio ns have highlighted the use of dendrimers as functional surfaces and as int erfacial materials for applications in membranes, adhesion, microelectronic s or in chemical and biological sensing.