title: Noncapillary-wave structure at the water-alkane interface.
abstract: Synchrotron x-ray reflectivity is used to study the interface between bulk water and bulk n-alkanes with carbon numbers 6 through 10, 12, 16, and 22. For all interfaces, except the water-hexane interface, the interfacial width disagrees with the prediction from capillary-wave theory. The variation of interfacial width with carbon number can be described by combining the capillary-wave prediction for the width with a contribution from intrinsic structure. This intrinsic structure is determined by the gyration radius for the shorter alkanes and by the bulk correlation length for the longer alkanes.
authors.affiliation: University of Illinois at Chicago, Department of Physics, 845 West Taylor Street, Chicago, Illinois 60607, USA.
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Mitrinović
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Tikhonov
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Schlossman