Small-angle X-ray scattering investigations of n-aliphatic alcohol film deposited on porous ZrO₂

The small-angle scattering (SAXS) method can be and has already been used to investigate the electron density profile at phase boundaries. It has therefore become more and more frequently employed in the characterization of physical properties of organic films deposited on porous material surfaces. In the following paper, several hydrated and dehydrated porous zirconium oxide (ZrO₂) samples covered with different amounts of dodecanol, bromododecanol, hexadecanol, heptadecanol or octadecanol have been examined using the SAXS method. Significant differences in the Porod plots of hydrated and dehydrated samples were observed. These differences suggest considerable differences in the alcohol molecule orientation on the two different kinds of surfaces. The presented results confirm that the SAXS method can be used in the determination of the structure of the organic phase deposited on the porous surface. It can also be observed that for the alcohol/ZrO₂ system the Ruland-Vonk formula has limited usefulness with regard to the determination of the thickness of a deposited organic film.