ERIC Number: EJ1003197
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Dec
Pages: 4
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0021-9584
EISSN: N/A
The Molecular Boat: A Hands-On Experiment to Demonstrate the Forces Applied to Self-Assembled Monolayers at Interfaces
Chan, Charlene J.; Salaita, Khalid
Journal of Chemical Education, v89 n12 p1547-1550 Dec 2012
Demonstrating how surface chemistry and self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) control the macroscopic properties of materials is challenging as it often necessitates the use of specialized instrumentation. In this hands-on experiment, students directly measure a macroscopic property, the floatation of glass coverslips on water as a function of modifying the terminal surface groups of the glass. The glass surface is chemically modified by the self-assembly of monomolecular layers formed by two organosilanes, 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane and 1-octadecyltrimethoxysilane, which change the water contact angles. These SAMs alter the ability of the modified glass to support a mass, thus demonstrating that the bulk material property can be directly controlled by molecular surface chemistry. (Contains 3 figures.)
Descriptors: Structural Elements (Construction), Chemistry, Secondary School Science, High Schools, College Science, Undergraduate Study, Science Laboratories, Molecular Structure, Science Experiments, Scientific Principles
Division of Chemical Education, Inc and ACS Publications Division of the American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 800-227-5558; Tel: 202-872-4600; e-mail: eic@jce.acs.org; Web site: http://pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools; Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A