Scanning of silicon wafers in contact with aqueous CTAB solutions below the CMC

Hydrophilic silicon wafers are studied against aqueous solutions of hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) at concentrations between 0.05 mM up to 1 mM (CMC). AFM studies show that nanobubbles are formed at concentrations up to 0.4 mM. From 0.5 mM upward, no bubbles could be detected. This is interpreted as the formation of hydrophobic domains of surfactant aggregates, becoming hydrophilic at about 0.5 mM. The high contact angle of the nanobubbles (140-150° through water) indicates that the nanobubbles are located on the surfactant domains. A combined imaging and colloidal probe AFM study serves to highlight the surfactant patches adsorbed at the surface via nanobubbles. The nanobubbles have a diameter between 30 and 60 nm (after tip deconvolution), depending on the surfactant concentration. This corresponds to a Laplace pressure of about 30 atm. The presence of the nanobubbles is correlated with force measurements between a silica probe and a silicon wafer surface. The study is a contribution to the better understanding of the short-range attraction between hydrophilic surfaces exposed to a surfactant solution.