title: Mechanism of reactive wetting and direct visual determination of the kinetics of self-assembled monolayer formation.
abstract: Reactive wetting (RW) of alkane thiols and disulfides on gold is studied experimentally using the wet stamping technique. Theoretical description based on Langevin dynamics is developed to explain the experimental results and to clarify the physical processes underlying RW. In this description, thermal fluctuations of the three-phase contact line combine with the surface reaction to gradually build a low-energy self-assembled monolayer (SAM) onto which the front propagates. The results of the model match the experiments and allow determination of the kinetic rate constants of SAM formation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering and Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: Marcin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fialkowski
authors.forename: Kyle J M
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Bishop
authors.forename: Bartosz A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Grzybowski
mesh_terms: D004220:Disulfides / Q000737:chemistry; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry; D007700:Kinetics; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D017155:Wettability
chemical_list: D004220:Disulfides; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds; D006046:Gold