AVS 45th International Symposium
    Applied Surface Science Division Wednesday Sessions
       Session AS+BI+SS-WeM

Invited Paper AS+BI+SS-WeM7
The Effect of Solvents and Electrical Fields on the Molecular Conformation in Organic Monolayers

Wednesday, November 4, 1998, 10:20 am, Room 307

Session: Organized Molecular Monolayers
Presenter: M. Grunze, University of Heidelberg, Germany
Authors: M. Grunze, University of Heidelberg, Germany
M. Buck, University of Heidelberg, Germany
F. Eisert, University of Heidelberg, Germany
M. Zolk, University of Heidelberg, Germany
P. Harder, University of Heidelberg, Germany
A. Pertsin, Russian Academy of Sciences
H.J. Kreuzer, Dalhousie University, Canada
Correspondent: Click to Email
The molecular conformation in self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of functionalized alkanethiols is affected by the presence of solvents. The polarity and ability of the solvent molecules to form hydrogen bridge bonds, and the lateral density in the SAMs determines the orientation of the terminal functional moiety at the organic film/solvent interface. We will discuss our in situ Sum Frequency Generation (SFG) and protein adsorption experiments on methyl- and oligo(ethylene glycol)-terminated self-assembled alkanethiolate monolayers, and present atomistic force field calculations to explain our data. These results show that spectroscopic measurements taken in vacuum or ambient atmosphere are not necessarily representative for the molecular structure and chemical nature of organic surfaces immersed in a liquid.