Hydrophobic Interactions between Dissimilar Surfaces

An atomic force microscope (AFM) was used to measure surface forces between a glass sphere and a silica plate. When the measurements were conducted between untreated surfaces, a "short-range" hydration force with decay lengths of 0.4 and 3.0 nm was observed. When the surfaces were hydrophobized with octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS), on the other hand, long-range hydrophobic forces with decay lengths in the range of 2-32 nm were observed. The force measurements were conducted between surfaces having similar and dissimilar hydrophobicities so that the results may be used for deriving an empirical combining rule. It was found that the power law force constants for asymmetric interactions are close to the geometric means of those for symmetric interactions. Thus, hydrophobic force constants can be combined in the same manner as the Hamaker constants. A plot of the power law force constants versus water contact angles suggests that the hydrophobic force is uniquely determined by contact angle. These results will be useful in predicting hydrophobic forces for asymmetric interactions and in estimating hydrophobic forces from contact angles.