2D "soap"-assembly of nanoparticles via colloid-induced condensation of mixed Langmuir monolayers of fatty surfactants.

We describe a new type of colloidal 2D gels formed in mixed Langmuir monolayers of stearic acid and octadecylamine on a surface of gold hydrosol. The adsorption of gold nanoparticles on the mixed monolayer led to an increase of interactions between oppositely charged surfactants giving a "soap" of mixed fatty salt. The observed effect is equivalent to a virtual "cooling" of floating monolayer, which undergoes rapid condensation on a surface of aqueous colloid.

Hydrogen-bond-guided self-assembly of nucleotides on a receptor-array surface.

The hydrogen-bond-guided self-assembly of 5'-ribonucleotides bearing adenine(A), cytosine (C), uracil (U), or guanine (G) bases from aqueous solution on a lipid-like surface decorated with synthetic bis(Zn(II)-cyclen) (cyclen=1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclodododecane) metal-complex receptor sites is described. The process was studied by using surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy. The data show that the mechanism of nucleotide binding to the 2D template is influenced by the chemistry of the bases and the pH value of the solution.

Lateral 2D-3D phase segregation in fatty acid/fatty amine monolayers induced by langmuir-blodgett deposition.

We describe the formation of lateral 2D-3D patterns in mixed multilayer LB films of stearic acid (SA) and octadecylamine (ODA) deposited from aqueous subphases at a basic pH. The 3D particles of SA constituting the micrometer-scale linear assemblies in the LB film are assumed to segregate at the three-phase contact line in the course of film deposition. This 2D-3D phase separation of the two-component system presumably originates from the substrate-induced lowering of the collapse point of SA that leads to spontaneous 3D condensation of an acid on a solid support.

Two-dimensional arrays of amphiphilic Zn2+-cyclens for guided molecular recognition at interfaces.

The sterically guided molecular recognition of nucleobases, phosphates, adenosine, and uridine nucleotides on Langmuir monolayers and Langmuir-Blodgett monolayers of amphiphilic mono- or bis(Zn2+-cyclen)s assembled on thiolated surfaces was investigated. The stepwise selective binding of metal ions, uracil, or phosphate by dicetyl cyclen monolayers with variously tuned structures at the air/water interface was corroborated by the measurements of the corresponding LB films deposited onto quartz crystals. Two types of recognition surfaces were fabricated from Zn2+-dicetyl cyclen.