Characterization of Langmuir and Langmuir-Blodgett films of a thiomacrocyclic ionophore by surface pressure and AFM.

The new synthesized thiomacrocyclic ionophore 4-phenyl-4-sulfide-11-(1-oxodecyl)-1,7-dithia-11-aza-4-phosphacyclotetradecane has proven to form Langmuir and Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films. This ionophore shows a large affinity for copper(II) ions. Thus, the influence of the subphase composition on the surface pressure-area isotherms has been studied. The LB films have been observed by AFM and the effect of the subphase composition and the deposition surface pressure on the LB films is discussed. AFM image morphology has been correlated to the ionophore molecular structure. Surface pressure-area isotherms and AFM images show that the presence of copper(II) ions has an important role in the film structure.