Langmuir, Vol.29, No.45, 13735-13742, 2013
Hexadecylamine Adsorption at the Iron Oxide-Oil Interface
The adsorption behavior of a model additive, hexadecylamine, onto an iron surface from hexadecane oil has been characterized using polarized neutron reflectometry, sum-frequency generation spectroscopy, solution depletion isotherm, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The amine showed a strong affinity for the metal surface, forming a dense monolayer at relatively low concentrations; a layer thickness of 16 (+/- 3) angstrom at low concentrations, increasing to 20 (+/- 3) angstrom at greater amine concentrations, was determined from the neutron data. These thicknesses suggest that the molecules in the layer are tilted. Adsorption was also indicated by sum-frequency generation spectroscopy and XPS, the latter indicating that the most dominant amine-surface interaction was via electron donation from the nitrogen lone pair to the positively charged iron ions. Sum-frequency generation spectroscopy was used to determine the alkyl chain conformation order and orientation on the surface.