Hydrophobicity-induced drying transition in alkanethiol self-assembled monolayer—water interface

During the course of our investigation of the electron transfer properties of some redox species through highly hydrophobic long chain alkanethiol molecules on gold in aqueous and non-aqueous solvents, we obtained some intriguing results such as unusually low interfacial capacitance, very high values of impedance and film resistance, all of which pointed to the possible existence of a nanometer size interfacial gap between the hydrophobic monolayer and aqueous electrolyte. We explain this phenomenon by a model for the alkanethiol monolayer—aqueous electrolyte interface, in which the extremely hydrophobic alkanethiol film repels water molecules adjacent to it and in the process creates a shield between the monolayer film and water. This effectively increases the overall thickness of the dielectric layer that is manifested as an abnormally low value of interfacial capacitance. This behaviour is very much akin to the ‘drying transition’ proposed by Lum, Chandler and Weeks in their theory of length scale dependent hydrophobicity. For small hydrophobic units consisting of apolar solutes, the water molecules can reorganize around them without sacrificing their hydrogen bonds. Since for an extended hydrophobic unit, the existence of hydrogen bonded water structure close to it is geometrically unfavourable, there is a net depletion of water molecules in the vicinity leading to the possible creation of a hydrophobic interfacial gap.     

Depth profiling of latex blends of fluorinated and fluorine‐free acrylates with laser‐induced secondary mass spectrometry

We explored phase separation and self‐assembly of perfluoroalkyl segments at the surface of polymer films obtained from latices of semifluorinated acrylate copolymers and the corresponding latex blends of nonfluorinated and semifluorinated polyacrylates. With laser‐induced secondary mass spectrometry the fluorine distribution was measured after annealing above the minimum film‐forming temperature of the polymers up to a depth of several micrometers. Depth profiles of a semifluorinated acrylate homopolymer and latex blends thereof with fluorine‐free alkylacrylates with 25, 50, and 75 mol % semifluorinated acrylate as well as a copolymer comprised of alkyl acrylate and semifluorinated acrylate (50/50 mol %) were investigated. In the case of latex blends containing both semifluorinated polyacrylates and fluorine‐free or low‐fluorine polymers, self‐assembly accounted for enrichment of the perfluoroalkyl segments at the surface. Coatings exhibiting low surface energy and having a substantially reduced total fluorine content were obtained. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 360–367, 2003     

Effect of pressure on the solubilities ofo-,m- andp-xylene in water

The solubilities of o-, m- and p-xylene in water were measured at 25.0°C up to 250, 385, and 50 MPa, respectively. The solubility increased with increasing pressure up to 120 MPa (50 MPa for p-xylene) and then decreased. The reaction volumes, V^o accompanying the dissolution at 0.1 MPa were estimated as –3.6±0.5, –3.4±0.5, and –4.1±0.5 cm³-mol^–1 for o-, m-, and p-xylene, respectively, from the pressure dependences of the solubilities. The limiting partial molar volumes, of p- and o-xylene in water under high pressure were estimated from V^o and the molar volume of the xylene. The partial molar volumes decreased with increasing pressure. The reaction volume for the formation of intra-molecular pairwise hydrophobic interaction between the methyl groups, as proposed by Ben-Naim, is discussed for the V^o of p- and o-xylene at 0.1 MPa.     

Dimerization of some substituted benzoic acids in aqueous solution from conductance measurements

Precision molar conductances of benzoic, o-toluic, 2,6-dimethylbenzoic, 2,3,6-trimethylbenzoic, and, o-fluorobenzoic acids have been determined in aqueous solution as a function of temperature and of concentration up to near saturation (<0.035 M). At the higher concentrations molar conductances are found to be less than anticipated for the simple dissociation of a 1-1 electrolyte. Although the deviations are only 1% or less they have been interpreted to show that these acids are dimerized in solution. The interpretation includes an assumption that the dimer ionizes to produce a triple ion. Increasing numbers of methyl groups lead to increasing dimerization. For those acids with two ortho groups the dimerization increases with increasing temperature while the other three show decreasing dimerization with increasing temperature. Temperature functions have been determined for the dimerization constants and from these functions standard changes in enthalpy, entropy, and heat capacity have been determined. Comparisons are made with dimerization studies in non-aqueous solvents. From these as well as the behavior of benzene in water it is concluded that a major factor driving the dimerization is hydrophobic interaction. To provide a limiting conductance of the triple ion needed in the dimerization calculations a conductance study was also made for o-Phenylbenzoic acid on the assumption that its anion provides an approximate model of the triple ion.     

Freezing temperatures and densities of solutions of some hydrocarbons and sodium oleate inN-methylacetamide. Evidence for a solvophobic interaction

The freezing temperatures and densities (at 31°C) of solutions of octane, nonane, decane, 3,3-diethylpentane, and sodium oleate inN-methylacetamide (NMA) have been measured. The molality of the freezing solution was calculated from the density. The solubilities of octane, nonane, and decane inN-methylacetamide are also reported. Apparent molal volumes calculated from the densities are close to the values in the pure hydrocarbons and are not strong functions of the concentration. This indicates the absence of any unusual packing effect. The calculated free energies of transfer of the hydrocarbons from pure hydrocarbon to NMA solution are much less negative than the corresponding values for water, showing that the bulk solvophobic interaction inN-methylacetamide is smaller than in water. This is consistent with the freezing temperatures of sodium oleate which show that micelles do not form below 0.1 mole-kg^–1. The osmotic coefficients of the hydrocarbons calculated from the freezing temperatures showed negative deviations from ideality that were larger for the hydrocarbons with the higher molecular weights. Two estimates of the pairwise solvophobic interaction inN-methylacetamide indicate that it is also smaller than in water. The solvophobic effect in this solvent does not include the large entropy and enthalpy effects found in aqueous solutions.     

Binding studies of sodium dodecyl benzene sulphonate with poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone)

The binding of sodium dodecyl benzene sulphonate (SDBS) with poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) (PVP) has been investigated at 303.15 and 313.15 K using equilibrium dialysis, surface tension, viscosity, ultrasound velocity and ultrasound absorption techniques. From each of these studies four distinct regions of SDBS-PVP interactions were observed. Interaction of SDBS with PVP was found to involve the binding of surfactant dimers with the polymer molecule followed by usual micellization. The binding data has been analyzed in terms of various models of polymer-surfactant interaction.