title: Study of the self-assembling of n-octylphosphonic acid layers on aluminum oxide.
abstract: The deposition of n-octylphosphonic acid on aluminum oxide was studied. The substrate was pretreated in order to achieve a root-mean-square roughness of <1 nm, a hydroxyl fraction of 30%, and a thickness of approximately 170 nm. It was proven using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) that, rather than a monolayer, an organic multilayer was formed. The growth mechanism was identified as a Stranski-Krastanov one. It was also shown that the use of AFM, probing the surface topography, is essential for a reliable quantification and interpretation of data obtained with XPS.
authors.affiliation: Department ofMetallurgy, Electrochemistry and Materials Science, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium. thauffma@vub.ac.be
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hauffman
authors.forename: Orlin
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Blajiev
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Snauwaert
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: van Haesendonck
authors.forename: Annick
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hubin
authors.forename: Herman
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Terryn
mesh_terms: D000537:Aluminum Oxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D063065:Organophosphonates / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size; D013053:Spectrophotometry; D013499:Surface Properties; D014965:X-Rays
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D063065:Organophosphonates; C539181:n-octylphosphonic acid; D000537:Aluminum Oxide