Deposition of DPPC monolayers by the Langmuir–Blodgett method on SiO2 surfaces covered by octadecyltrichlorosilane self-assembled monolayer islands

The morphology of self-assembled monolayer (SAM) islands of n-octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) deposited on chemically and thermally oxidized SiO2 surfaces was studied by dynamic force microscopy (DFM). The shape and size of the islands were found to depend significantly on the hydrophilicity of the SiO2 surface. Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) monolayers of a lipid, dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC), deposited on these SiO2 surfaces covered by OTS-SAM islands have shown that the DPPC monolayer is supported firmly on the SiO2 surface by the hydrophobic islands acting as anchor molecules.