Probing Surfactant Adsorption at the Solid-Solution Interface by Neutron Reflectometry

Probing Surfactant Adsorption at the Solid-Solution Interface by Neutron Reflectometry 

In the last 10-15 years, neutron reflectometry has been developed into a powerful technique for the study of surface and interfacial structure, and has been extensively applied to the study of surfactant and polymer adsorption and to determine the structure of a variety of thin films [14, 16]. Neutron reflectivity is particularly powerful in the study of organic systems, in that hydrogen/deu-terium isotopic substitution can be used to manipulate the refractive index distribution without substantially altering the chemistry. Hence, specific components can be made visible or invisible by refractive index matching. This has, for example, been extensively exploited in studying surfactant adsorption at the air-solution interface [17]. In this chapter, we focus on the application of neutron reflectometry to probe surfactant adsorption at the solid-solution interface. 

The scope of the chapter will include an introduction to the technique of neutron reflectometry, and how it is applied to the study of surfactant adsorption at the planar solid-solution interface, to obtain adsorbed amounts and details of the structure of the adsorbed layer. The advantages and limitations of the technique will be put in the context of other complementary surface techniques. Recent results on the adsorption of a range of anionic, cationic and nonionic surfactants, and surfactant mixtures onto hydrophilic, hydrophobic surfaces, and surfaces with specifically tailored functionality will be described. Where applicable, direct comparison with the results from complementary techniques will be made and discussed. 

---