Pattern formation in fatty acid-nanoparticle and lipid-nanoparticle mixed monolayers at water surface

Dodecanethiol-capped gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are self-organized in two different amphiphilic monolayers one of which is a single-tailed fatty acid Stearic acid (StA) and the other a double-tailed lipid 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC). In the StA-AuNP film the AuNPs self-organize to form an interconnected network of nanoclusters on compression while in the DMPC-AuNP film the AuNPs aggregate to form random, isolated clusters in the film. The long time evolution of the films at constant surface pressure reveals ring structures in the former and diffusion limited aggregates in the latter that with time evolve into an irregular porous maze of AuNPs in the DMPC film. The difference in structure of the AuNP patterns in the two films can be attributed to a difference in the lipophilic interactions between the NPs and the amphiphilic molecules. The mean square intensity fluctuations f(ln) calculated along a typical line for the 2D structures in both the films at initial and final stages of lo...