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Morphology of surfactant mixtures at solid/liquid interfaces: High-speed AFM observation

Year: 2021

Journal: Colloid Surf. A-Physicochem. Eng. Asp., Volume 616, MAY 5

Authors: Saino, Ryota; Akamatsu, Masaaki; Sakai, Kenichi; Sakai, Hideki

Keywords: High-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM); Adsorption; Surfactant mixtures; Gemini surfactant; Ellipsometry; Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D)

We characterized time-dependent morphological changes in cationic monomeric/gemini surfactant mixtures adsorbed on silica using high-speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM). The gemini surfactant employed in this study was 1,2-bis(dodecyldimethylammonio)ethane dibromide (12-2-12). This surfactant was mixed with a monomeric surfactant, hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HTAB), in the presence of a background electrolyte. The HS-AFM measurements revealed that wormlike surface aggregates that formed in an HTAB solution transformed into a bilayer within a few hundred seconds after the HTAB solution was replaced by an HTAB + 122-12 mixed solution. This morphological change was reversed within a few hundred seconds after this solution was replaced by the initial HTAB solution. These time-dependent morphological changes were supported by simultaneous quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) and ellipsometry measurements. The energy dissipation, monitored by QCM-D, changed reversibly in response to the solution exchanges.