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The molecular in-plane structure of uranyl arachidate Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films formed at different subphase pH values was analysed by means of X-ray grazing-incidence diffraction. For multilayers formed at low subphase pH a reorganisation of the arachidic acid film structure is confirmed. At appropriate subphase pH values, reorganisation of the film structure, e.g. via the formation of three-dimensional crystallites, is prevented by the presence of the uranyl ions and by the subsequent introduction of conformational disorder (gauche defects) in the alkyl chains. The observation of a macroscopic flow-induced in-plane texture in these uranyl arachidate LB films has profound implications for the design of ordered, supramolecular structures by the Langmuir-Blodgett technique.
In this second paper we describe the comprehensive structure investigations on multilayers of uranyl arachidate formed by Langmuir-Blodgett deposition from subphases of different pH on solid substrates by means of a combination of infrared spectroscopy, X-ray specular reflection, ellipsometry, and scanning force microscopy, The structure of these multilayers and their stability are obviously influenced by the subphase pH. The pH range of the acid to salt conversion determined for the Langmuir films is confirmed by the infrared spectroscopic data of the multilayers. While arachidic acid films, deposited from an uranyl acetate subphase of low pH, are found to have strongly distorted rough surface, the films of uranyl structure, The influence of the counterions on the alkyl chain conformation, chain packing, reorganization probability, and stability of the multilayer is discussed.
Langmuir monolayers of arachidic acid have been prepared on a subphase containing uranyl ions (O-U-O)ý+. The interaction between the uranyl ions and the monolayer of arachidic acid has been studied by means of surface pressure and surface potential isotherms and Brewster angle microscopy at different pH values (ranging from 1.5 to 8). A similar systematic study has been carried out in the presence of Cdý+ ions for comparison purposes. The surface pressure and surface potential isotherms demonstrate that the acid to salt conversion of arachidic acid in the presence of uranyl ions occurs at lower bulk pH values (pH=3.5) as compared with other bivalent metal counterions such as Cdý+. Changes in the surface morphology of the monolayer induced by the interaction with uranyl- and cadmium ions are analyzed and the correlation between the surface potential change and the morphology of the films is discussed.
Amphiphilic disc-shaped penta-alkynes were studied with regard to their molecular organization in Langmuir-Blod- gett (LB) mono- and multilayers. It was found that each compound investigated forms edge-on arranged stable monolayers at the air-water interface. LB-multilayers derived from fivefold pentyl-substituted pentaynes are characterized by an edge-on ordering of the molecules within Y-type bilayers. One of these compounds, containing a hydoxy substituent as hydrophilic head group, is exemplified and two possible rectangular molecular assemblies perpendicular to the substrate, each with a columnar in-plane packing, will be discussed as a result of molecular modelling. Based on the experimental results, hexagonal layer packing in the LB-film of a disc-shaped penta-alkynyl carboxylic acid without lateral substituents proved to be possible, which, furthermore, could be confirmed by molecular mechanics simulation.
Investigation of molecular diffusion across organic multilayers using neutron specular reflectivity
(1999)
The influence of the subphase temperature on the stripe pattern formation during Langmuir-Blodgett transfer (LB patterning) is investigated in a combined experimental and theoretical study. According to our experiments on the LB transfer of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) on planar mica substrates, even small temperature changes between 21.5 and 24.5 degrees C lead to significant changes in the monolayer patterns. For a constant surface pressure and dipper speed, the width of the stripes and the overall spatial period of the patterns increase with increasing subphase temperature. Because the stripe patterns are ascribed to alternating monolayer domains in the liquid-expanded and the liquid-condensed phases, the working regime for the formation of stripes is found to depend strongly on the respective surface pressure-area isotherm. These experimental findings are in accordance with the results of a theoretical investigation based on a model that takes hydrodynamics and the monolayer thermodynamics into account.
Grazing incidence x-ray diffraction (GIXD) measurements of uranyl arachidate (UO2A2) LB films
(1998)
Langmuir-Blodgett(LB) multilayers were prepared from disc-shaped multiyne mesogens based on amphiphilic alkyl pentakis(aryl-ethynyl)benzene ethers. The two compounds used are characterized by five hydrophobic flexible chains and one hydrophilic substituent at the terminal position of the alkoxy chain. The LB films were analysed by X-ray scattering and spectroscopic measurements. An edge-on arrangement of the two discotic pentaalkynes within Y-type bilayers with a different packing density proved to be possible for the LB films of both compounds.
Changes of the molecular arrangenemt that can be induced by means of the LB technique in the multilayers of a disc-shaped multialkynyl amphiphile are monitored by means of small angle X-ray diffraction. Studies of the monolayers at the air-water interface reveal "edge-on" orientation of the discs. Specific effects of the counter- ions (Na+, Cd²+, Pb²+, and Ba²+) and sub-solution pH on the monolayer collapse pressure, transfer efficiency and molecular order in the multilayers are found. A correlation between the monolayer properties and the ability for formation of periodic discotic structures in the presence of divalent counterions is established. The discotic molecules retain their "edge-on" arrangement in the highly compressed transferred films with slight irregular interdigtation of the flexible wings and inclination to the substrate normal. The tilt and the inter- digitation are reduced when the discotic monolayers are deposited in alternating LB films with barium arachidate spacer layers.
The structure of mono- and multilayers of amphiphilic disc-shaped pentaynes wa inbestigated by Brewsterangle microscopy, X-ray specular reflection and grazing incidence diffraction (GID). X-ray specular reflection experiments confirm the "edge on" arrangement of the molecular discs. The molecular modelling of the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB)- multilayers predicts a columnar in-plane packing of the molecules. A GID experiment with monochromatic synchrotron radiation was used to verify the predicted multilayer structure on molecular level, while the Brewsterangle microscopy gave a deeper insight in the monolayer in-plane structure on micron scale.
For bilayer stacks of non-centrosymmetrical molecules, formed by the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique (Y deposition), 00l peaks for the bilayer period are usually observed in the X-ray specular reflectivity curve, in this study, we show that the introduction of stacking disorder at lower transfer ratios and the subsequent partial repair of defects by a parallel shift of oppositely oriented molecules into the vacancies may result in the formation of antiphase domains and in an increase in the average monolayer symmetry followed by quenching of the bilayer peaks. The X-ray reflectivity data, obtained for multilayers of penta-alkynes, are used to demonstrate this real structural effect, which is expected to be of general importance for X-ray and neutron reflectivity data reduction and for the structural modelling of multilayers.
The possibilities and limits of structure refinement of Langmuir-Blodgett films by means of symmetrical reflection of X- rays are described using the example of a stearic acid multilayer. Three different techniques for the determiantion of the electron density profile from reflectivity data are compared; a Fourier method, a Patterson method, and model calculations. The important role of the a priori information for finding the besft structure model is outlined.