Aggregation of non-amphiphilic bathophenanthroline in the restricted geometry of Langmuir–Blodgett films with two different matrices

Abstract: The behavior of binary mixed Langmuir monolayers from the mixture of non-amphiphilic bathophenanthroline (BPH) and behenic acid (BA)/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) spread on aqueous subphase was investigated on the basis of the analysis of surface pressure–average area per molecule (π–A) isotherms complemented with UV–vis absorption spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. In addition, the miscibility of the components in the two investigated mixed systems (BPH/BA and BPH/PMMA) was also tested by using additivity and surface phase rules. The plots of area per molecule versus mole fraction suggest that BPH and BA are immiscible, whereas BPH and PMMA mixtures show non-ideal behavior at low surface pressures and complete miscibility or immiscibility at higher surface pressures. Spectroscopic study reveals that J-type of aggregates is formed in the mixed films. Scanning electron microscopic study supports the presence of aggregates. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]