PHYSICOCHEMISTRY AND HYDRODYNAMICS OF LANGMUIR-BLODGETT DEPOSITIONS

By the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique, films of precise thickness and controlled molecular architecture and order can be obtained. In spite of the large number of applications of LB films, unreliability and slow film deposition speed, problems that can be traced back to the inability to control the nature of the liquid flow field near the vicinity of the moving contact line, have hampered the potential industrial applications of the LB technique. In this book, the deposition of LB films, based on a hydrodynamic model that includes the effect of molecular and double layer forces, is presented. Experimental characterization of the monolayer and multilayer deposition process by relating transfer ratios (TR) to dynamic contact angles, subphase pH and composition and by the use of Attenuated Total Reflectance Infrared spectroscopy is also presented. The well-known effect of contact angles in the successful deposition of LB films is linked here to the magnitude and direction of molecular and double- layer forces at the solid surface that at the same time determine the flow patterns in the liquid and therefore the TR.