Imaging Active Surface Processes in Barnacle Adhesive Interfaces.

Surface plasmon resonance imaging (SPRI) and voltammetry were used simultaneously to monitor Amphibalanus (=Balanus) amphitrite barnacles reattached and grown on gold-coated glass slides in artificial seawater. Upon reattachment, SPRI revealed rapid surface adsorption of material with a higher refractive index than seawater at the barnacle/gold interface. Over longer time periods, SPRI also revealed secretory activity around the perimeter of the barnacle along the seawater/gold interface extending many millimeters beyond the barnacle and varying in shape and region with time.

Shell Structure and Growth in the Base Plate of the Barnacle .

The base plate of the acorn barnacle (equivalent to ) is composed of hierarchically scaled, mutually aligned calcite grains, adhered to the substratum via layered cuticular tissue and protein. Acorn barnacles grow by expanding and lengthening their side plates, under which the cuticle is stretched, and adhesive proteins are secreted. In barnacles with mineralized base plates, such as , a mineralization front follows behind, radially expanding the base plate at the periphery.

Growth and development of the barnacle Amphibalanus amphitrite: time and spatially resolved structure and chemistry of the base plate.

The radial growth and advancement of the adhesive interface to the substratum of many species of acorn barnacles occurs underwater and beneath an opaque, calcified shell. Here, the time-dependent growth processes involving various autofluorescent materials within the interface of live barnacles are imaged for the first time using 3D time-lapse confocal microscopy. Key features of the interface development in the striped barnacle, Amphibalanus (= Balanus) amphitrite were resolved in situ and include advancement of the barnacle/substratum interface, epicuticle membrane development, protein secretion, and calcification.

The entry of HCl through soluble surfactants on sulfuric acid: effects of chain branching.

Gas-liquid scattering experiments are used to determine how a soluble, branched surfactant (2-ethylbutanol) controls the entry of gaseous HCl molecules into 60 and 68 wt % D2SO4 at 213 K. Short-chain alcohols spontaneously segregate to the surfaces of these sulfuric acid solutions, which are representative of aerosol droplets in the lower stratosphere. We find that 2-ethylbutanol enhances HCl entry at low surface coverages, most likely because it provides extra interfacial OH groups that aid HCl dissociation.

Barnacle Balanus amphitrite adheres by a stepwise cementing process.

Barnacles adhere permanently to surfaces by secreting and curing a thin interfacial adhesive underwater. Here, we show that the acorn barnacle Balanus amphitrite adheres by a two-step fluid secretion process, both contributing to adhesion. We found that, as barnacles grow, the first barnacle cement secretion (BCS1) is released at the periphery of the expanding base plate.

HCl uptake through films of pentanoic acid and pentanoic acid/hexanol mixtures at the surface of sulfuric acid.

Molecular beam scattering experiments are used to investigate collisions and reactions of HCl with deuterated sulfuric acid containing 0-0.2 M pentanoic acid (PA) and mixtures of PA and hexanol. Surface tension measurements at 296 K indicate that PA segregates to the surface of the acid, reaching coverages of 58% and 52% of maximum packing on 60 and 68 wt % D(2)SO(4), respectively.

Solvation of nitrophenol isomers: consequences for solute electronic structure and alkane/water partitioning.

Solute partitioning across a variety of alkane/aqueous interfaces was examined as a function of solute and alkane solvent structure. Solutes include p-nitrophenol (PNP), 3,5-dimethyl-p-nitrophenol (3,5-DMPNP), and 2,6-dimethyl-p-nitrophenol (2,6-DMPNP), the latter two being isomers distinguished solely by the location of methyl substituents on the aromatic ring. The alkane solvents included cylohexane, methylcyclohexane, octane, and iso-octane (2,2,4-trimethylpentane).

Surfactant control of gas transport and reactions at the surface of sulfuric acid.

Aerosol particles in the atmosphere are tiny chemical reactors that catalyze numerous reactions, including the conversion of benign gases into ozone-destroying ones. In the lower stratosphere, these particles are often supercooled mixtures of water and sulfuric acid. The different species present at the surface of these droplets (H(2)O, H(3)O(+), HSO(4)(-), H(2)SO(4), and SO(4)(2-)) stand at the "gas-liquid frontier"; as the first to be struck by impinging molecules, these species provide the initial environment for solvation and reaction.

The inhibition of N2O5 hydrolysis in sulfuric acid by 1-butanol and 1-hexanol surfactant coatings.

Gas-liquid scattering experiments are used to measure the fraction of N2O5 molecules that are converted to HNO3 after colliding with 72 wt % H2SO4 containing 1-hexanol or 1-butanol at 216 K. These alcohols segregate to the surface of the acid, with saturation coverages estimated to be 60% of a close-packed monolayer for 1-hexanol and 44% of a close-packed monolayer for 1-butanol. We find that the alkyl films reduce the conversion of N2O5 to HNO3 from 0.