The influence of temperature on the adsorption of cationic surfactants on muscovite mica

The attention in this paper is directed toward the modification of the mica surface by adsorption of quaternary ammonium surfactants, and the influence of temperature on the adsorption process. The aim is to produce a very well-ordered hydrophobic surface. In order to produce adsorbed layers, we realized numerous experiments and applied the solutions of different surfactants concentrations, below and above the critical micelle concentration. The characterization of adsorbed layers was performed by contact angle measurements and atomic force microscopy imaging, and we observed films of variable morphology. The influence of many parameters is responsible for different results, such as solution concentration, and temperature, humidity in sample analysis, as well as substrate properties (muscovite mica). Special attention was paid to the influence of temperature on the solution properties and the stability of the deposited surfactants layers.