The evaporation of n-hexadecane from highly oriented pyrolytic graphite studied by atomic force microscopy

The evaporation of n-hexadecane from highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HO PG) has been investigated using tapping mode atomic force microscopy. Four evaporation times of 5, 10, 15, and 25 min have been studied. The same gros s features are observed for all evaporation times, namely two types of isol ated features located on the terraces and continuous features associated wi th steps on the graphite surface. Extensive measurements have been performe d on the observed features allowing a detailed comparison between evaporati on times;Models describing the molecular orientations within the features a re proposed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.