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Updated: Jun 27, 2026

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets
Published on: May 15, 2017
Experimental three-dimensional description of the liquid hexadecane/graphite interface
L Pham Van1, V Kyrylyuk, J Polesel-Maris
1CEA-Saclay, bat. 462, F-91191 Gif sur Yvette Cedex, France.
Abstract:
By using an atomic force microscope based on a quartz tuning fork sensor, a 3-dimensional description of the interface between liquid hexadecane and a highly oriented pyrolytic graphite surface can be achieved at room temperature. The C16H34 monolayer in contact with the substrate surface exhibits a lamellar structure whereas no observation at the liquid/graphite interface by scanning tunnelling microscopy was reported for this alkane. The second layer shows very weak corrugations corresponding to lamella boundaries. Force/distance curves show at least four oscillations separated by 0.4 nm except for the first period with a 0.38 nm distance that corresponds to the layer closer the substrate. Such a description agrees well with molecular dynamics results obtained on alkane/solid interfaces.
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