Measurement of the long- and short-range hydrophobic attraction between surfactant-coated surfaces.
We have measured the attractive long-range 'hydrophobic' forces in water between double-chained surfactant monolayers physisorbed on mica. We used both normal and high-speed video cameras to follow the dynamics and possible rate-dependence of force-distance profiles in the distance regime from 1000 A to adhesive contact, including the short-distance regime below 100 A-the regime of greatest biological interest. We find that the hydrophobic interaction follows a double-exponential function down to separations of approximately 50 A, after which point the attractive force appears to become considerably stronger.
Lin
Qi
Q
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California at Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.
Meyer
Emily E
EE
Tadmor
Maria
M
Israelachvili
Jacob N
JN
Kuhl
Tonya L
TL
D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry*
D013501:Surface-Active Agents