Special properties of oppositely charged polymer/surfactant composite films on the air/water interface

Atomic force microscopy(FAM) and the surface pressure relaxation technique were employed to characterize the properties of oppositely charged polymer/surfactant complex films formed on the air/water interface. By the observation of AFM, it,is shown that partially hydrated polyacrylamide (HPAM)/hexadedyltrimethylammonium(CTAB) complex films appear in the morphology of patch aggregates. Amphoteric HPAM/CTAB complexes are observed to form filbrelike structures. Salts in the subphase have an impact on the morphology of interface complexes. Furthermore, the surface pressure relaxation revealed that the conformational changes of interface complexes are directly related to the stability of the films.