| abstract |
A layer element comprises a base having a hydrophobic surface and, applied on this, one or more solid, thin, ordered layers of defined uniform and regular structure, in particular monolayers or multilayers, having a uniform orientation of the layer-forming molecules in one direction. The said layers are formed from a metallomacrocyclic polymer which is fusible and/or soluble in an organic, water-immiscible solvent and is of the general formula [M(Pcyc)O]n, where M is Si, Ge or Sn, (Pcyc) is a complex-forming centrosymmetric polycyclic ring system, in particular a phthalocyanine ring system having hydrophobic substituents, and n is the mean degree of polymerization and is equal to or greater than 3. The novel layer elements can advantageously be produced by the Langmuir-Blodgett technique, in which a solid-like monolayer produced on a water surface from the metallomacrocyclic polymers is transferred to a substrate having a hydrophobic surface by immersion and withdrawal of the said substrate. The layer elements according to the invention can be used, for example, as optical filters, e.g. grey filters, interference filters or polarization filters, in electrochemistry and the electrical industry, for example as electrodes, sensors, catalysts etc., as photosensitive elements for electrophotography, and for many other applications. |