AVS 53rd International Symposium
    Surface Science Thursday Sessions
       Session SS-ThP

Paper SS-ThP30
Mechanical Properties of Surfactant Aggregates at Liquid-Solid Interfaces: Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Thursday, November 16, 2006, 5:30 pm, Room 3rd Floor Lobby

Session: Surface Science Poster Session
Presenter: P. Chiu, University of Florida
Authors: P. Chiu, University of Florida
K. Shah, Intel Corporation
S.B. Sinnott, University of Florida
Correspondent: Click to Email
There are a wide range of applications that use surfactants, including dispersion in such things as paints and detergents, controlled drug delivery systems, and chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) of silicon wafers. As a result, great strides have been made in using experimental methods to shed light on the behavior of surfactants in solution and at the solid-liquid interface. Those experimental studies, however, have produced little insight into understanding the behavior of surfactants at the molecular level, the mechanics of which are still to be explored. Consequently, new developments in molecular dynamics (MD) simulation have been directed towards this area of study. This research uses MD simulations to study the mechanical properties of surfactant aggregates, specifically the surfactant dodecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (C@sub 12@TAB), at liquid-solid interfaces, such as at water-silica and water-graphite interfaces. Indentation simulations both normal to the substrate, at an angle, and laterally are considered. The aim is to understand the failure mechanisms of micelles, if any, during nanoindentation with different proximal probe tip indenters.