Assessment by XPS and electrochemical techniques of two molecular organosilane films prepared on stainless‐steel surfaces

The ability of silane groups to chemosorb on mechanically polished stainless‐steel surfaces has been investigated. Accordingly, tridecafluoro‐1,1,2,2‐tetrahydrooctyltrichlorosilane and the tridecafluoro‐1,1,2,2‐tetrahydrooctyltriethoxysilane, two organosilanes of similar chain length terminated with hydrophobic non‐reactive functions, have been tested as probe molecules. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy characterization, optical microscopy imaging, electrochemistry and contact angle measurements have been performed to characterize bare and modified samples. Results reported in this work show the influence of time of immersion and coupling agent reactive group on self‐assembled monolayer formation. It emerges that silanization by triethoxysilanes in millimolar solutions is not suitable for producing chemically bonded organic films with high density. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.