Structure of CF4 multilayers on (0001) surfaces of graphite and hydroxylated alpha-quartz: A molecular dynamics study

G Leuty and J Nehring and M Tsige, SURFACE SCIENCE, 603, 3374-3381 (2009).

DOI: 10.1016/j.susc.2009.09.030

We present findings from a recent molecular dynamics study of multilayer adsorption of tetrafluoromethane (CF4) onto two atomically flat but chemically and structurally different substrates: graphite (hydrophobic) and hydroxylated alpha-quartz (hydrophilic). Simulations in this study were carried out at temperatures in the range of 60-120 K. Subsequent analysis shows that the structure and character of the substrate surface play a large role in whether adsorbed films exhibit packing arrangements that are highly ordered or are subject to a high degree of temperature dependence. Additionally, flexible hydroxyl groups on the surface of hydroxylated alpha-quartz are shown to arrange themselves in a zig-zag pattern that creates an array of hexagonal domains which determine the allowed CF4 adsorption sites. Published by Elsevier B.V.

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