Adsorption of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and/or cetyldimethylbenzylammonium chloride on partly covered hanging mercury drop electrode

Adsorption of cationic surfactants on covered hanging mercury drop electrode surface of variable area

Cetyldimethylbenzylammonium chloride (CDBACl) or cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) is preadsorbed on mercury and used as substrate. The adsorptive stripping voltammetry with the two-step procedure is used. The mercury droplet with the preadsorbed surfactant is expanded in aqueous solutions of KCl, KBr, CTAB, CDBACl, or cetylethyldimethylammonium bromide (CEDAB). The surface area was increased from 0.0022cm(2) up to 0.0571cm(2). The surfactant molecules are maintained close to each other and in the vicinity of the electrode by the applied electric field. The expanding of the droplets resulted in a reorientation of the adsorbed molecules depending on the surfactant surface concentration. In some cases, condensed films were observed. Differences were noticed in the adsorption and desorption potential region. A linear increase in the capacitance current with the surface area was found in all cases up to a maximum increase in the surface area. Partly disorganized films were also observed. In some cases, defects were noticed during expansion. In one case, fractal structure was observed.

Quaternary ammonium bromide surfactant adsorption on low-index surfaces of gold. 2. Au(100) and the role of crystallographic-dependent adsorption in the formation of anisotropic nanoparticles

A qualitative and quantitative description of the coadsorption of a quaternary ammonium bromide surfactant on Au(100) has been determined using electrochemical techniques. Cyclic voltammetry reveals that both the cationic surfactant ion and its halide counterion are adsorbed on the surface of unreconstructed Au(100) over a wide range of electrode potentials or charge densities. The relative Gibbs excesses of the cationic and anionic components of octyltrimethylammonium (OTA(+)) bromide have been determined using the thermodynamics of ideally polarized electrodes. Coadsorbed OTA(+) does not strongly affect the behavior of bromide layers on Au(100) with low-coverage films being replaced by commensurate overlayers at positive electrode charge densities. The presence of surface bromide allows for the stabilization of adsorbed OTA(+) at positive polarizations. Furthermore, charge-induced phase changes in the bromide layer lead to subtle but appreciable changes in the surface excesses of OTA(+) ions which is consistent with a hierarchical model of surfactant adsorbed upon a halide-modified Au(100) surface. A comparison of the OTA(+) adsorption isotherms on Au(100) and Au(111) reveals that the presence of coadsorbed bromide does not lead to preferential accumulation of cationic surfactant ions on a particular crystal facet. These results are inconsistent with explanations of anisotropic nanoparticle formation that invoke a thermodynamic argument of preferred surfactant adsorption on different crystal facets of an embryonic nanoparticle seed crystal.