Fabrication of octyltriethoxysilane Langmuir-Blodgett thin film

Abstract

In the present work the monolayer properties at the air-water interface of Octyltriethoxysilane (C 8 TES) molecules are investigated using Langmuir isotherm graphs. Uniform and high quality Langmuir-Blodgett films of these molecules are prepared and characterized by UV-visible, atomic force microscopy and quartz crystal microbalance measurements to determine the deposition quality of these films. High transfer ratio of about 0.99 at a deposition pressure of 11 mN/m was obtained. The contact angle of water was 93.17° with a surface free energy of 23.8 mN/m. The use of soluble triethoxybased silane coupling agents under anhydrous conditions is shown to produce surfaces with a minimal number of surface defects. C 8 TES material has been demonstrated to produce well organised LB films and is shown to be a good candidate for application in the field of biosensors.