NEW SCATTERING TECHNIQUES TO CHARACTERIZE THE STRUCTURE OF SOLID MONOLAYERS ADSORBED FROM CONDENSED PHASES TO SOLID SUBSTRATES

Incoherent elastic neutron scattering is demonstrated to be a powerful technique for the investigation of molecular layers adsorbed at burie d solid/liquid interfaces. Examples of the system exhibiting the forma tion of solid monolayers include alkanes, alcohols and organic acids a dsorbed from their liquids and organic acids adsorbed from alkane solu tion. The behaviour of these systems is in marked contrast to that of a simple liquid crystalline molecule which does not show any evidence of forming a solid adsorbed monolayer. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.