Structures and Properties of Monolayer Phases

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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.