Abstract:
A brief review presenting a model system that has the ease of prepn. and the structural definition required to provide a firm understanding of interfacial phenomena. Long-chain thiols (HS(CH2)nX) adsorb from soln. on Au and form densely packed, oriented monolayers. Org. surfaces can be created having a wide range of structures and properties by varying the terminal functional group (X) of the thiol. More complex systems can be constructed by coadsorbing 2 or more thiols with different terminal functional groups or with different chain lengths on a common Au substrate. By these techniques, controlled degrees of disorder can be introduced into model surfaces. The authors have used these systems to explore the relations between the microscopic structure of the monolayers on a mol. and supermol. scale and their macroscopic properties. Wettability is a macroscopic interfacial property that has proven of particular interest.