FORMATION AND STRUCTURAL ASPECTS OF SELF-ASSEMBLY MONOLAYERS STUDIED BY MEANS OF QUARTZ CRYSTAL MICROBALANCE WITH DISSIPATION FACTOR.

Abstract

The characterization of biological functional self-assembly monolayer thin films over inorganic surfaces (metal surfaces) is of crucial importance for biosensors development since by combining them with Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) they can be used as biosensors devices to detect organic molecules.In the present work our goal is to study the formation of self-assembly monolayer on gold surfaces by using different alcanethiols, i.e. thiols with different chain size. The monolayer characterizations will be done by means of QCM technique with dissipation factor (D). With this technique it will be possible to study the effect of size chain of the alcanothiols regarding structural properties of the monolayers formed after stabilization (i.e. steady-state conditions). AFM measurements will be conducted with the main purpose to study the morphological aspects of the monolayers formed for each size. Specific study may be performed by means of AFM analysis in the transmission mode. If necessary it will also be performed FT-IR analysis.