Microstructure of mixed cadmium stearate and behenate Langmuir-Blodgett films

X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to investigate the microstructure and phase separation of mixed multilayers of cadmium stearate (SA) and behenate (BA) deposited onto hydrophilic glass by the Langmuir-Blodgett technique. No unitary fatty acid diffraction peaks in the XRD spectra of the mixed LB films, which reveals that domains in these samples are small and uniform. The interplanar spacing of the mixed LB films changes with the ratio of BA to SA in a step-shaped curve, which suggests that with the changing of the ratio between BA and SA, only three kinds of ordered structure form in the mixed system, and each microstructure, in particular, the short chains against long chains meshed microstructure can be maintained in a certain ratio range. In addition, for the meshed microstructure, the alkyl chains of both SA and BA stand straight or may have exactly the same small tilted angle from the substrate normal, as is indicated by the symmetric and asymmetric stretching vibration of methylene (CH2) peaks which are at 2847.80 and 2914.37 cm(-1) respectively in the Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) transmission spectra. The mixed system always goes through a longitudinal regularity decreasing process when BA/SA is out of the intermediate ratio range (BA/SA: 1/5-1/1), which is illustrated by the relative XRD intensity changing with the ratio of BA/SA in a "W" shape. These results for the mixed LB films of BA/SA provide meaningful data for choosing the mixture ratio when fabricating composite films with special structure.