Journal of Physical Chemistry B, Vol.102, No.47, 9437-9442, 1998
Grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction study of octadecanoic acid monolayers
We report the observation of X-ray scattering profiles from monolayers of octadecanoic acid in the vicinity of room temperature and evidence for the existence near room temperature of all four hexatic rotator phases L-2d, Ov, L'(1), and LS, which differ in the details of their molecular tilt. While the incontrovertible triple-reflection signature of the chiral L'(1) phase was not observed, we propose that the previously reported rapid annealing behavior in this phase can lead to the disappearance of one, and in some cases two, of the three peaks.
Keywords:CHAIN FATTY-ACIDS;LANGMUIR MONOLAYERS;PHASE-DIAGRAM;WATER-SURFACE;TRANSITIONS;SCATTERING;FILMS;TEXTURES;SYMMETRY