Radiostearic acid was adsorbed from n-hexadecane onto mica and thin vapor-deposited films of iron, gold, and copper that had been exposed to dry and water-saturated helium or air. Adsorption was measured directly and continuously by a recently developed technique. The mica substrate showed essentially zero adsorption. None of the metals adsorbed more than one stable compact monolayer. Iron and gold showed a large difference in adsorption in dry helium or air, but adsorbed about the same amount, 0.2 to 0.5 monolayer, when exposed to either wet helium or air. Copper adsorbed 0.3 to 0.7 monolayer in all atmospheres except wet air, in which it showed a weak adsorption of nine monolayers; rinsing with hexane removed all but one monolayer.In most techniques for studying adsorption on metals, uniform, clean, and reproducible metal surfaces are difficult to prepare and the adsorption process cannot be followed continuously [2, 3,4, 7,10,11,16, 18, 21], Clean and reproducible metal surfaces are also difficult to prepare and maintain in methods that measure adsorption continuously and directly on a metal-coated window of a Geiger tube [l, 6,7,13]. A recently developed apparatus and technique provide controlled conditions for the production and maintenance of relatively clean metal films and the precise measurement of adsorption [20]. Metal is evaporated onto a mica window supported within a high-vacuum apparatus; adsorption onto the metal film is measured directly and continuously by a counter tube below the window.Reported previously were results of the adsorption of radiostearic acid from dilute n-hexadecane solution onto the mica substrate and 295 Downloaded by UNIV OF MICHIGAN ANN ARBOR on February 18, 2015 |