Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Vol.333, No.2, 540-547, 2009
Z-Tetraol composition and bonding to the underlying carbon surface
The bonding kinetics for 10 angstrom Z-Tetraol films on the amorphous nitrogenated carbon surface (CNx) is investigated as a function of the Z-Tetraol molecular polarity. Z-Tetraol nominally contains 2 hydroxyl groups per chain end. The molecular polarity of Z-Tetraol is varied by the addition of a "bis-adduct" component of Z-Tetraol. This material contains 3 instead of 2 hydroxyl groups per chain end. The bonding kinetics and changes in the surface energy as a function of time in thin film mixtures is investigated under ambient conditions. The initial bonded fraction scales with the bis-adduct concentration and can be increased by as much as 50%. The asymptotic bonded fraction exhibits a more modest increase of approximately 10%. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.