Role of Molecular Architecture in the Modulation of Hydrophobic Interactions

Publication date: Available online 26 December 2019Source: Current Opinion in Colloid & Interface ScienceAuthor(s): Lei Xie, Diling Yang, Qiuyi Lu, Hao Zhang, Hongbo ZengABSTRACTHydrophobic interactions are ubiquitous in water-based systems, which play a central role in a variety of interfacial phenomena. Herein, the recent advances in the quantitative measurements of hydrophobic interactions at different solid/water, air/water and oil/water interfaces using surface forces apparatus (SFA) and atomic force microscope (AFM) are summarized. By the quantitative force measurements, the correlations among molecular architectures, hydrophobic interactions and interfacial processes associated with the stimuli-responsive materials could be established. The nanoscale chemical heterogeneity (viz., immobilized ions in close proximity to nonpolar domains) could substantially affect and even eliminate the hydrophobic interaction. Regarding the molecular order, the ordered crystalline-like hydrophobic surfaces exhibit stronger hydrophobic attraction compared to the disordered liquid-like hydrophobic surfaces due to the distinct water structure effects.
Source: Current Opinion in Colloid and Interface Science - Category: Chemistry Source Type: research