Structures and Properties of Monolayer Phases

加州大学洛杉矶分校的查尔斯·诺布勒教授在理论和计算化学项目的支持下，对水中有机单分子膜的相行为进行了实验和理论研究。利用单层膜和包括Brewster角显微镜、掠入射X射线衍射和扫描力显微镜在内的方法，PI提出了研究滑动摩擦的分子起源以及相变动力学的方法。还将研究单分子层向三维结构的坍塌。这项工作是与加州大学洛杉矶分校的应用数学系以及包括法国萨克雷的两个和德国戈尔姆的MPI在内的两个国际组织合作的。单分子膜作为更复杂的生物膜的模型体系，也使得人们可以在二维上研究相变，这从理论上来说是一个很容易处理的问题。这些测量将对液晶、表面吸附原子、液晶聚合物和反铁磁体中的类似现象产生影响。这项工作在润滑和传感器问题上也有应用。

Professor Charles Knobler of the University of California Los Angeles is supported by the Theoretical and Computational Chemistry program to perform experimental and theoretical studies on phase behaviors of organic monolayers on water. Using monolayers and methods including Brewster-angle microscopy, grazing incidence x-ray diffraction and scanning force microscopy, the PI proposes to study the molecular origins of sliding friction and also the kinetics of phase transitions. The collapse of monolayers into three dimensional structures will also be investigated. The work is collaborative with the Applied Mathematics department at UCLA and with international groups including two at Saclay, France and MPI, Golm, Germany. Monolayers serve as model systems for the more complicated biological membranes, and also allow one to study phase transformations in two dimensions, which is a tractable problem from a theoretical standpoint. The measurements will have bearing on similar phenomena in liquid crystals, adsorbed atoms on surfaces, liquid crystalline polymers and antiferromagnets. There are applications of this work to problems in lubrication and sensors.