Adhesion of sodium dodecyl sulfate surfactant monolayers with TiO2 (rutile and anatase) surfaces

Journal Article · Tue Sep 17 04:00:00 EDT 2013 · Langmuir, 29(37):11609-11614

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/la401469f· OSTI ID:1130674

Darkins, Robert; Sushko, Maria L.; Liu, Jun; Duffy, Dorothy M.

Surfactants are widely used as templates to control the nucleation and growth of nanostructured metal oxides such as titania. To gain insight into the origin of surfactant-titania interactions responsible for polymorph and orientation selection, we simulate the self-assembly of an anionic surfactant monolayer on various low-index titania surfaces and for a range of densities. We characterize the binding in each case and compute the adhesion energies, finding anatase (100) and rutile (110) to be the strongest-binding surfaces. The sodium counterions in the monolayer are found to dominate the adhesion. It is also observed that the assembly is directed predominantly by surface-monolayer electrostatic complementarity.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 1130674
• Report Number(s): PNNL-SA-95646; KC0203020
• Journal Information: Langmuir, 29(37):11609-11614, Journal Name: Langmuir, 29(37):11609-11614
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

Molecular Dynamics Simulations
Self-Assembly
Templated Growth