Langmuir and Langmuir-Blodgett films of long-chain amines studied by SFG spectroscopy

• Grant number: 07/06223-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2008
• End date: February 28, 2010
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Condensed Matter Physics
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Barbeitas Miranda
• Grantee: Thiers Massami Uehara
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física de São Carlos (IFSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 03/07927-0 - Nanostructured organic films fabricated with the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) and layer-by-layer (LBL) techniques, AP.TEM

Abstract

The interaction between organic molecules and water is of great relevance to several areas of science, including biological systems. Proteins, amino acids and vitamins all contain amines, making them an important class of compounds. This proposal aims at the preparation and characterization of Langmuir films of long-chain amines by sum-frequency vibrational spectroscopy (SFG). SFG spectroscopy is intrinsically sensitive to interfaces, making it possible to discriminate the vibrational spectrum of water at the interface from that in the bulk. Besides spectral information, which is usually related to the superficial structure, it is also possible to obtain information about molecular orientation at interfaces. In this research Langmuir films of amphiphilic amines will be studied to determine their ionization degree as a function of both pH and ionic strength of the subphase, and to understand how water interacts with monolayers of different degrees of ionization. We also want to compare the structures of amine films both at the water surface and transfered onto solid substrates (LB films).

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

UEHARA, Thiers Massami. The interaction of water with Langmuir films of amphiphilic amines as a function of pH probed by Pi-A isotherms and SFG spectroscopy. 2010. Master's Dissertation - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Física de São Carlos (IFSC/BT) São Carlos.