Department of Chemical Engineering University of California Santa Barbara Santa Barbara CA 93106 USA
Department of Chemical Engineering University of California Santa Barbara Santa Barbara CA 93106 USA, Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research Ben‐Gurion University of the Negev Sede Boqer Campus 84990 Midreshet Ben‐Gurion Israel
SurForce LLC Goleta CA 93117 USA
Pritzker Nanofabrication Facility Institute for Molecular Engineering University of Chicago Chicago IL 60637 USA
The study of interfacial phenomena is central to a range of chemical, physical, optical, and electromagnetic systems such as surface imaging, polymer interactions, friction/wear, and ion‐transport in batteries. Studying intermolecular forces and processes of interfaces at the sub‐nano scale has proven difficult due to limitations in surface preparation methods. Here, we describe a method for fabricating reflective, deformable composite layers that expose an ultra‐smooth silica (SiO 2 ) surface (RMS roughness < 0.4 nm) with interferometric applications. The robust design allows for cleaning and reusing the same surfaces for over a week of continuous experimentation without degradation. The electric double‐layer forces measured using the composite surfaces are within 10% of the theoretically predicted values. We also demonstrate that standard chemisorption and physisorption procedures on silica can be applied to chemically modify the surfaces; as a demonstration of this, the composite surfaces are successfully modified with octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) to study their hydrophobic interactions in water using a surface force apparatus (SFA). These composite surfaces provide a basis for the preparation of a variety of new surfaces, and should be particularly beneficial for the SFA and colloidal probe methods that employ optical/interferometric and electrochemical techniques, enabling characterization of previously unattainable surface and interfacial phenomena.
Dobbs, Howard A., Kaufman, Yair, Scott, Jeff, Kristiansen, Kai, Schrader, Alex M., Chen, Szu‐Ying, Duda, III, Peter, & Israelachvili, Jacob N. (2017). Ultra‐Smooth, Chemically Functional Silica Surfaces for Surface Interaction Measurements and Optical/Interferometry‐Based Techniques. Advanced Engineering Materials, 20(2). https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.201700630
@article{osti_1405543,
author = {Dobbs, Howard A. and Kaufman, Yair and Scott, Jeff and Kristiansen, Kai and Schrader, Alex M. and Chen, Szu‐Ying and Duda, III, Peter and Israelachvili, Jacob N.},
title = {Ultra‐Smooth, Chemically Functional Silica Surfaces for Surface Interaction Measurements and Optical/Interferometry‐Based Techniques},
annote = { The study of interfacial phenomena is central to a range of chemical, physical, optical, and electromagnetic systems such as surface imaging, polymer interactions, friction/wear, and ion‐transport in batteries. Studying intermolecular forces and processes of interfaces at the sub‐nano scale has proven difficult due to limitations in surface preparation methods. Here, we describe a method for fabricating reflective, deformable composite layers that expose an ultra‐smooth silica (SiO 2 ) surface (RMS roughness },
doi = {10.1002/adem.201700630},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1405543},
journal = {Advanced Engineering Materials},
issn = {ISSN 1438-1656},
number = {2},
volume = {20},
place = {Germany},
publisher = {Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)},
year = {2017},
month = {10}}