Forced dewetting is a strategy for physically isolating ultrathin regions of the solid-fluid interface that can be probed directly with optical spectroscopies. Under the proper conditions, this approach results in residual thin films whose thicknesses are in the several nm regime and are dictated by long range as opposed to hydrodynamic forces. These thin film environments have been shown to replicate interfacial behavior of in-situ systems, while excluding the relatively thick, opaque bulk solvent layers that traditionally complicate interfacial spectroscopy. Examples of the applicability of this approach will be presented that include an analysis of interfacial molecular structure at bare metal substrates and at substrates covered by either self-assembled monolayers or thin polymer films.

Investigating solid-fluid interfaces using forced dewetting

243rd National Meeting (2012)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.