Adsorbed monolayers versus Langmuir-Blodgett monolayers—why and how? II: Characterization of built-up films constructed by stepwise adsorption of individual monolayers

Abstract The formation of oriented monolayer and multilayer films prepared by the two- step chemical method described in Part I of this series of papers is studied using contact angle measurements, ellipsometry, and IR internal and external multiple-reflection spectroscopy. The film growing process and the quality of the resulting built-up films are shown to be critically dependent on the degree of structural perfection attainable in the first adsorbed monolayer, which is, in turn, strongly dependent on the hydrocarbon chain length of the film-forming surfactant. Trends observed within a series of four bifunctional silane surfactants with hydrocarbon chain lengths in the range from 11 to 16 carbon atoms suggest that surfactants longer by an additional 2–4 carbon atoms may be expected to yield high quality multilayer structures regardless of the total number of superimposed monolayers.