Journal of Physical Chemistry C
Journal of Physical Chemistry C
5 years ago

Effect of Electric Field and Trace Water on Confined Undecanol and Tetradecane

Effect of Electric Field and Trace Water on Confined Undecanol and Tetradecane
Eugene J. H. Soh, Sean J. O’Shea
The effect of electric field on the liquids undecanol and tetradecanol is studied in an atomic force microscope (AFM). A strong electric field is applied by biasing a gold-coated AFM tip up to 3 V across approximately 5 nm or less of liquid confined between the tip and a graphite surface. Oscillatory forces are observed when no electric field is applied, thus indicating molecular ordering of the liquids at the interface. These oscillatory forces are observed far less frequently when a strong electric field is applied across undecanol, whereas only a slight decrease in observation frequency is found in tetradecane. Our interpretation is that trace amounts of water within the liquids is attracted into the tip–sample contact region under high electric field, thus disrupting the molecular layering. This hypothesis is supported by experiments in dried undecanol in which the probability of observing oscillatory forces only decreases slightly up to 3 V. The results highlight the importance of considering the effect of water in nonaqueous liquids under confinement in addition to changes in the molecular dipole moment under high electric field.

Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.7b09752

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.7b09752

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