3D texturing of the air-water interface by biomimetic self-assemblyShow others and affiliations
2020 (English)In: Nanoscale Horizons, ISSN 2055-6764, E-ISSN 2055-6756, Vol. 5, no 5, p. 839-846Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
A simple, insoluble monolayer of fatty acid is shown to induce 3D nanotexturing of the air-water interface. This advance has been achieved through the study of monolayers of a methyl-branched long chain fatty acid, analogous to those found on the surface of hair and wool, directly at the air-water interface. Specular neutron reflectometry combined with AFM probing of deposited monolayers shows pronounced 3D surface domains, which are absent for unbranched analogues and are attributed to hydrocarbon packing constraints. The resulting surface topographies of the water far exceed the height perturbation that can be explained by the presence of capillary waves of a free liquid surface. These have hitherto been considered the only source of perturbation of the flatness of a planar water interface under gravity in the absence of topographical features from the presence of extended, globular or particulate matter. This amounts to a paradigm shift in the study of interfacial films and opens the possibility of 3D texturing of the air-water interface.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Royal Society of Chemistry , 2020. Vol. 5, no 5, p. 839-846
Keywords [en]
Air, Biomimetics, Fatty acids, Gravitation, Monolayers, Self assembly, Air water interfaces, Free liquid surface, Insoluble monolayer, Long chain fatty acid, Neutron reflectometry, Packing constraints, Particulate Matter, Topographical features, Phase interfaces
National Category
Natural Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-45086DOI: 10.1039/c9nh00722aScopus ID: 2-s2.0-85085964126OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-45086DiVA, id: diva2:1449598
2020-06-302020-06-302023-05-25Bibliographically approved