Subphase pH effect on composition and structure of Fe(III) arachidate monolayers

The arachidic acid monolayers on Fe(III) subphase surfaces with various pH values have been studied. The π–A isotherms of monolayers and Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectra of Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) films show that the films obtained on different pH subphases with a concentration of Fe(III) 5×10⁻⁵ M have different compositions. At low pH (2.4), the film appears to be almost 100% acid. The content of Fe(III) arachidate increases with increasing pH, at pH 3.7, the film appears to be 100% salt; and the content of salt decreases with pH larger than 3.7. The transmission electron microscope (TEM) observations show that the monolayer structures changed from patch aggregates formed by Fe(III) arachidate at low pH to a network or dotted structures formed by hydrolysates of Fe(III) at high pH. The Brewster angle microscopy (BAM) experiments show the different monolayer behaviors at various pH. These results indicate that the subphase pH greatly influenced the arachidic acid monolayers.