Measurement of Forces between Supported Cationic Bilayers by Colloid Probe Atomic Force Microscopy: Electrolyte Concentration and Composition.

The interactions between supported cationic surfactant bilayers were measured by colloidal probe atomic force spectroscopy, and the effect of different halide salts was investigated. Di(alkylisopropylester)dimethylammonium methylsulfate (DIPEDMAMS) bilayers were fabricated by the vesicle fusion technique on muscovite mica. The interactions between the bilayers were measured in increasing concentrations of NaCl, NaBr, NaI, and CaCl2. In NaCl, the bilayer interactions were repulsive at all concentrations investigated, and the Debye length and surface potential were observed to decrease with increasing concentration. The interactions were found to follow the electrical double layer (EDL) component of DLVO theory well. However, van der Waals forces were not detected; instead, a strong hydration repulsion was observed at short separations. CaCl2 had a similar effect on the interactions as NaCl. NaBr and NaI were observed to be more efficient at decreasing surface potential than the chloride salts, with the efficacy increasing with the ionic radius.