Mixed micellar aggregates of nonionic surfactants with short hydrophobic tails

Mixed micelle formation by aqueous mixtures of pentaethylene glycol monohexyl ether (C₆E₅) and diethylene glycol monohexyl ether (C₆E₂) has been investigated by determining the temperature-composition phase diagrams and measuring the intradiffusion coefficients. In binary aqueous solutions, C₆E₅ shows a high tendency to micellize, while C₆E₂, because of its too short hydrophilic head, presents a macroscopic phase separation in a water-rich and a surfactant-rich phases. The temperature-composition phase diagrams obtained for the ternary water-C₆E₅---C₆E₂ mixtures present a micellar region in which both surfactants co-aggregate. The dimensions of this micellar region depend on the relative ratio between the two surfactants molalities. By analysing the micelle intradiffusion coefficient, measured through the PGSE-NMR technique, the hydrodynamic radius of the aggregates has been estimated at 25 °C. It is similar to that of triethylene glycol monohexyl ether (C₆E₃) in binary aqueous solution. The experimental evidences suggest that in mixed ethoxylated surfactants the micellar behaviour is mainly determined by the mean number of ethoxylic units per surfactant molecule, independently of their distribution.     

含氮氟化类金刚石(FN-DLC)薄膜的研究：(Ⅲ)疏水性能分析

不同沉积条件下，在单晶硅基底上沉积了含氮氟化类金刚石(FN-DLC)薄膜，用静滴接触角/表面张力测量仪测量了水与FN-DLC膜表面的接触角.用X射线光电子能谱、Raman光谱和傅里叶变换吸收红外光谱(FTIR)分析了薄膜的组分和结构.用原子力显微镜观测了薄膜的表面形貌.结果表明，FN-DLC薄膜疏水性能主要取决于薄膜表面的化学结构、薄膜表面极化强度的强弱、以及薄膜的表面粗糙度的大小.sp³/sp²的比值减小，CF₂基团含量增加，薄膜粗糙度增加，接触角增大；反之，则接触角减小.在工艺上，沉积温度和功率的减小，气体流量比r(r=CF4/［CF₄+CH₄］)的增加，都会使水的浸润性变差，接触角增大. 关键词： 氟化类金刚石膜 疏水性 接触角     

The role of Frank elasticity in cholesteric elastomers

The effect of Frank elasticity on deformations of cholesteric elastomers by mechanical stress applied perpendicular to the helix axis is studied by numerical minimization of the free energy. Above a critical strain, a solution with an only oscillating director is found to be stable in comparison to a distorted helix. At the critical strain, the contractions perpendicular to stress change discontinuously. The critical strain is found to increase with increasing Frank elasticity contribution to the free energy density, and to diverge when the conformation anisotropy of the polymer backbone vanishes. The results are compared with recent experiments which indicated that, in case of weak conformation anisotropies, the Frank elasticity contribution to the free energy cannot be neglected.     

表面弹性对含可溶性活性剂垂直液膜排液的影响

针对含可溶性活性剂的垂直液膜排液过程,在考虑表面弹性作用的基础上,采用润滑理论建立了液膜厚度、表面速度、表面和内部活性剂浓度的演化方程组,通过数值计算分析了表面弹性和活性剂溶解度耦合作用下的液膜演化特征.结果表明：表面弹性是影响可溶性活性剂垂直液膜排液过程中必不可少的因素.排液初期,随表面弹性增加,液膜初始厚度增大,表面更趋于刚性化.随排液进行,弹性不同的液膜呈现不同的典型排液特征：当弹性较小时,液膜上部表面张力高,下部表面张力低,产生正向的马兰戈尼效应,与重力作用相抗衡.当弹性较大时,膜上部表面张力低,下部表面张力高,产生逆向的马兰戈尼效应,促使液膜排液加速,更易发生失稳.活性剂溶解度通过控制液膜表面的活性剂分子吸附量,进而影响表面弹性：当活性剂溶解度较大时,液膜厚度较小,很快发生破断;随溶解度降低,液膜稳定性增加,初始表面弹性也随之增大,并随液膜变薄逐渐接近极限膨胀弹性值.     

Evidence of glass transition in thin films of maleic anhydride derivatives: Effect of the surfactant coadsorption

The glass transition temperature of poly (maleic anhydride-alt-1-octadecen) and poly (styreneco-maleic anhydride) cumene-terminated thin films has been measured by mechanical relaxation of Langmuir films of these polymers. The dynamical properties show glass-like features (non-Arrhenius relaxation times and non-Debye mechanical response) interpreted by the coupling model. The glass transition temperature values determined by a mechanical relaxation experiment (step-compression) agree very well with those obtained by surface potential measurements. It is found that the glass transition temperature values in thin films decrease by about 100K as compared with those corresponding to the bulk polymers. The coadsorption of the water-insoluble surfactant DODAB decreases the glass transition temperature.     

Sliding behavior of water drops on sol-gel derived hydrophobic silica films

Control on the wettability of solid state materials is a classical and key issue in surface engineering. Optically transparent methyltriethoxysilane (MTES)-based silica films with water sliding angle as low as 9° were successfully prepared by two-step sol-gel co-precursor method. The emphasis is given to the effect of trimethylethoxysilane (TMES) as a co-precursor on water sliding behavior of silica films. The coating sol was prepared with molar ratio of methyltriethoxysilane (MTES), methanol (MeOH), acidic water (0.01 M, oxalic acid) and basic water (12 M, NH₄OH) kept constant at 1:12.73:3.58:3.58 respectively, and the molar ratio of TMES/MTES (M) was varied from 0 to 0.22. The static water contact angle as high as 120° and the water sliding angle as low as 9° was obtained by keeping the molar ratio (M) of TMES/MTES at 0.22. When the modified films were cured at temperature higher than 280 °C, the films became superhydrophilic. Further, the humidity study was carried out at a relative humidity of 90% at 30 °C over 60 days. We characterized the water repellent silica films by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), % of optical transmission, humidity tests and static and dynamic water contact angle (CA) measurements.     

Optical and hydrophobic properties of co-sputtered chromium and titanium oxynitride films

The chromium and titanium oxynitride films on glass substrate were deposited by using reactive RF magnetron sputtering in the present work. The structural and optical properties of the chromium and titanium oxynitride films as a function of power variations are investigated. The chromium oxynitride films are crystalline even at low power of Cr target (≥60 W) but the titanium oxynitride films are amorphous at low target power of Ti target (≤90 W) as observed from glancing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) patterns. The residual stress and strain of the chromium oxynitride films are calculated by sin² ψ method, as the average crystallite size decreases with the increase in sputtering power of the Cr target, higher stress and strain values are observed. The chromium oxynitride films changes from hydrophilic to hydrophobic with the increase of contact angle value from 86.4° to 94.1°, but the deposited titanium oxynitride films are hydrophilic as observed from contact angle measurements. The changes in surface energy were calculated using contact angle measurements to substantiate the hydrophobic properties of the films. UV-vis and NIR spectrophotometer were used to obtain the transmission and absorption spectra, and the later was used for determining band gap values of the films, respectively. The refractive index of chromium and titanium oxynitride films increases with film packing density due to formation of crystalline chromium and titanium oxynitride films with the gradual rise in deposition rate as a result of increase in target powers.     

Improved optical performance of CdO films prepared with CTAB as surfactant

The influence of surfactant cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) on structural, morphological and optical properties of CdO films has been investigated. Five series of CdO films were successfully prepared by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction method with the assistance of CTAB. These CdO films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and UV–vis spectroscopy. The CTAB caused in a decrease in crystallite size but an increase in the optical band gap of CdO films. From the optical investigations, it was observed that the transmittance of the pure film was about 2% and it increased dramatically to 37% for 2?M% CTAB added CdO films at the wavelength of 1100?nm. The results show that the amount of CTAB played an important role in determining the physical properties of the CdO nanostructures.     

Ion tracks in ultrathin polymer films: The role of the substrate

Surface damage produced by single MeV-GeV heavy ions impacting ultrathin polymer films has been shown to be weaker than those observed under bulk (thick film) conditions. The decrease in damage efficiency has been attributed to the suppression of long-range effects arising from excited atoms lying deeply in the solid. This raises the possibility that the substrate of the films itself is relevant to the radiation effects seen at the top surface. Here, the role of the substrate on cratering induced by individual 1.1 GeV Au ions in ultrathin poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) layers is investigated. Materials of different thermal and electrical properties (Si, SiO₂, and Au) are used as substrates to deposit PMMA thin films of various thicknesses from ∼1 to ∼300 nm. We show that in films thinner than ∼40 nm craters are modulated by the underlying substrate to a degree that depends on the transport properties of the medium. Crater size in ultrathin films deposited on the insulating SiO₂ is larger than in similar films deposited on the conducting Au layer. This is consistent with an inefficient coupling of the electronic excitation energy to the atomic cores in metals. On the other hand, the damage on films deposited on SiO₂ is not very different from the Si substrate with a native oxide layer, suggesting, in addition, poor energy transmission across the film/substrate interface. The experimental observations are also compared to calculations from an analytical model based on energy addition and transport from the excited ion track, which describe only partially the results.     

Influence of surfactant on the morphology and supercapacitive behavior of SILAR-deposited polyaniline thin films

Ionics - Polyaniline thin films have been prepared by the simple and inexpensive successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method at room temperature in the presence of three different...     

A novel approach to enhancement of surface properties of CdO films by using surfactant: dextrin

We studied the effect of an organic surfactant, dextrin, concentration on structural, morphological and optical properties of nanostructured CdO films deposited on glass substrates by using an easy and low-cost SILAR method. Microstructures of the nanostructured CdO films were optimized by adjusting dextrin concentration. XRD, SEM and UV–Vis Spectroscopy were used to study phase structure, surface morphology and optical properties of CdO films. Furthermore, effects of dextrin concentration on the surface roughness characteristics of CdO samples were reported. The results showed that the presence of organic surfactant highly affected the physical properties of CdO nanomaterials.     

Adsorption of neutral polymers: loops and tails

Equilibrium layers obtained by adsorption from polymer solution exhibit a double-layer structure: the inner layer is built up mainly by loops whereas the outer layer is built up mainly by tails. In the asymptotic limit of long chains (N→∞) the loop layer extends over a distance z∼N^1/(d−1) (d being the dimension of space) for dilute bulk solution. The thickness of the tail-layer is of the order of the coil size λ∼N^ν, and thus qualitatively larger. For increasing bulk concentration, the loops grow progressively and the two length scales merge at φ₂∼N^{−(dν−1)/(2ν(d−1)−1)}. We discuss a few consequences of the tail statistics on polymer layer interaction, exchange kinetics and polymer-colloid mixtures. A few related experiments are mentioned.     

Electrodeposition of thermoelectric Bi2Te3 thin films with added surfactant

Bismuth telluride (Bi₂Te₃) thin films were electrodeposited at room temperature from nitric baths in the presence of a surfactant, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). Nearly stoichiometric Bi₂Te₃ thin films were obtained from electrolytes containing 7.5 mM Bi(NO₃)₃. The surface morphology and mechanical properties of the electrodeposited thin film were improved by the addition of CTAB to the electrolyte, while the electrical and thermoelectric properties were preserved. Post-deposition annealing in a reducing environment did not improve the electrical and thermoelectric properties, possibly because the change in the microstructure of the Bi₂Te₃ thin film was too small.     

1/f noise in metal films: The role of the substrate

We have examined the temperature dependence of voltage (“1/f”) noise in Cu and Ag films on quartz and sapphire substrates. Our data suggest that two types of voltage noise occur simultaneously in metal films. One type of noise depends on the substrate and is weakly temperature-dependent; the remaining noise is strongly temperature-dependent and independent of the substrate.