In situ thermal control of Langmuir-Schaefer transfer

A monolayer or thin film of an amphiphilic monomer with a hydrophilic headgroup and a hydrophobic tail ordered with the long molecular axis parallel to the surface of a supporting substrate to create a horizontally oriented striped interface prepared by an improved Langmuir-Schaefer (LS) method comprising the steps of

• a) preparing a solution of a component material for the monolayer or thin film of the amphiphilic monomer;
• b) trapping interfacially the monolayer or thin film at an air-water interface;
• c) preparing a supporting substrate;
• d) preparing a heating and temperature control system that is operatively connected to the supporting substrate;
• and
• e) transferring the monolayer or thin film of step b) to the supporting substrate of step c) with continuous heating of the supporting substrate at a controlled temperature of 50-70° C. during the transfer of the monolayer or thin film of the amphiphilic monomer, wherein the supporting substrate is a layered material positioned above the monolayer formed in step b),
• whereupon the horizontally oriented striped interface has ordered domains with edge lengths exceeding 3 μm at set-point temperatures near 70° C.