Growth of Double-Chained Cationic Surfactant Films on Mica

Annabelle Blom; Gregory G. Warr; Erica J. Wanless

doi:10.1071/CH06069

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Growth of Double-Chained Cationic Surfactant Films on Mica

Annabelle Blom ^A , Gregory G. Warr ^A ^C and Erica J. Wanless ^B

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A School of Chemistry, University of Sydney, Sydney NSW 2006, Australia.

^B School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle, Callaghan NSW 2308, Australia.

^C Corresponding author. Email: g.warr@chem.usyd.edu.au

Australian Journal of Chemistry 59(6) 381-385 https://doi.org/10.1071/CH06069
Submitted: 28 February 2006 Accepted: 29 May 2006 Published: 6 July 2006

Abstract

The evolution of adsorbed dialkyl chained quaternary ammonium surfactant films with different alkyl chain lengths has been observed in situ using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Both di-C₁₂DAB and di-C₁₄DAB form a cohesive bilayer immediately, which is observed to strengthen with equilibration time. The slow equilibrium of di-C₁₆DAB allows examination of the film at less than saturated coverage and reveals growth of the bilayer through the nucleation and coalescence of patches. The difference in height between higher and lower regions is insufficient for bilayer and monolayer regions and the postulated structure is that of regions of bilayer with different packing densities. The effect of temperature on film morphologies near the gel transition is also examined.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Australian Research Council and the NEDO International Joint Research Grant Program. A.B. acknowledges receipt of a Henry Bertie and Florence Mabel Gritton Postgraduate Scholarship from the University of Sydney.

References

Growth of Double-Chained Cationic Surfactant Films on Mica

Abstract

Acknowledgments

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