Temperature-dependent surface potential studies of deposited monolayers

Abstract

The thermal behaviour of stearic acid and methyl stearate monolayers transferred from aqueous 10 −1 M or 10 −3 M BaCl 2 subsolutions onto silicon wafers has been studied using the surface potential techniques. Temperature-dependent surface potential changes have been used to deduce information on orientational changes and phase transitions of the deposited monolayers. For the adequate precursor monolayers, the effect of the subsolution on the monolayer relaxation has been considered. A correlation between the counterion effect of the subsolution on the spread prrecursor monolayer and the surface potential behaviour of the deposited monolayer has been demonstrated. Increasing orientational disordering due to thermal treatment of the deposited monolayers can be understood as a 2D–3D transformation of the monolayer material.