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Science 13 September 1985:
Vol. 229. no. 4718, pp. 1088 - 1089
DOI: 10.1126/science.4035349
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Articles

Science, Vol 229, Issue 4718, 1088-1089
Copyright © 1985 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

Attractive forces between uncharged hydrophobic surfaces: direct measurements in aqueous solution

RM Pashley, PM McGuiggan, BW Ninham, and DF Evans

Long, double-chained alkylammonium acetate surfactants are soluble in water and, under suitable conditions, adsorb onto sheets of muscovite mica, forming an electrically neutral, hydrophobic surface. Attractive forces measured between such surfaces are 10 to 100 times stronger than expected from van der Waals theory over distances D up to about 10 nanometers. The forces decay exponentially [with a force proportional to exp(-D/1.4)] instead of following the power-law behavior of continuum theory. The results of these and earlier experiments indicate that the strength of these attractive forces depends critically on the degree of hydrophobicity of the surface and is due to the long-range influence of the surface on the structure of water. In addition, for very hydrophobic surfaces, the cavitation effects on pulling the surfaces apart are described.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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Mode matches and their locations in the hydrophobic free energy sequences of peptide ligands and their receptor eigenfunctions.
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Long-range attractive force between hydrophobic surfaces observed by atomic force microscopy.
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Molecular mechanisms and forces involved in the adhesion and fusion of amphiphilic bilayers.
C. Helm, J. Israelachvili, and P. McGuiggan (1989)
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Forces Between Surfaces in Liquids.
J. N. Israelachvili and P. M. McGuiggan (1988)
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Cavitation and the Interaction Between Macroscopic Hydrophobic Surfaces.
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Biomaterial-centered infection: microbial adhesion versus tissue integration.
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