Spontaneous Assembly in Organic Thin Films Spread on Aqueous Subphase: A Scanning Force Microscope (SFM) Study |
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Authors: | Sidney R. Cohen Isabella Weissbuch Ronit Popovitz-Biro Jarek Majewski Harald P. Mauder Ronit Lavi Leslie Leiserowitz Meir Lahav |
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Affiliation: | 1. Chemical Services Unit, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel;2. Department of Materials and Interfaces, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel |
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Abstract: | Structure, morphology, and mechanical properties of mono- and several-layer structures of amphiphiles or pure n-alkane crystallites generated by spontaneous self-assembly on aqueous subphase have been analyzed by scanning force microscopy (SFM). Pure-component and heterogeneous mixtures of molecules were allowed to spread and self-assemble without compression on an aqueous subphase. The self-assembled films were transferred to an atomically smooth mica substrate by drainage for measurement using SFM. Results were compared with a variety of techniques including cryo-transmission electron microscopy, grazing incidence X-ray diffraction, X-ray reflectivity, and reflectance/absorption infrared spectroscopy. Whereas the collaborative techniques provide spatially-averaged information, we find that the SFM accesses both individual crystallites and amorphous material, thus providing unique information on the morphology, number of layers, and complementary structural features. |
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