Nanoscale multiple gaseous layers on a hydrophobic surface

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Title: Nanoscale multiple gaseous layers on a hydrophobic surface
Author(s): Zhang, Lijuan; Zhang, Xuehua; Fan, Chunhai; Zhang, Yi; Hu, Jun
Abstract: The nanoscale gas state at the interfaces of liquids (water, acid, and salt solutions) and highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) was investigated via tapping-mode atomic force microscopy (AFM). For the first time, we report that the interfacial gases could form bilayers and trilayers, i.e., on the top of a flat gas layer, there are one or two more gas layers. The formation of these gas layers could be induced by a local supersaturation of gases, which can be achieved by (1) temperature difference between the liquids and the HOPG substrates or (2) exchange ethanol with water. Furthermore, we found that the gas layers were less stable than spherical bubbles. They could transform to bubbles with time or under the perturbation of the AFM tip.
Publication type: Journal article
Source: Langmuir, Vol. 25, no. 16 (Aug 2009), pp. 8860-8864
Publication year: 2009
Keyword(s): AFM; Atomic force microscopy; Bi-layer; Ethanol; Gas layers; Gas state; Gases; Graphite; Highly oriented pyrolytic graphite; Hydrophobic surfaces; Hydrophobicity; Nano scale; Nanostructured materials; Phase interfaces; Salt solution; Spherical bubbles; Surface chemistry; Tapping-mode atomic force microscopy; Temperature differences; Trilayers
Publisher: American Chemical Society
ISSN: 0743-7463
Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/la901620e
Peer reviewed