Surfactant adsorption on solid surfaces: recognition between heterogeneous surfaces and adsorbed surfactant aggregates

We study the possibility of the recognition of surface heterogeneities with surfactant adsorption by performing Monte Carlo simulations. It is found that when each patch size of a heterogeneous surface is capable of being commensurate with the size of aggregates adsorbed on the constituent homogeneous surfaces, the adsorption isotherm of the system will display both adsorption characteristics for each homogeneous surface. Otherwise, one or more adsorption characteristics will be spoiled or destroyed. Therefore, the adsorption isotherm of surfactants on a heterogeneous surface provides a signal of recognition.