ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

Investigating the molecular orientation and configuration in thin films of soft solid formulations

Abstract: Soft solid formulations, such as solid fabric enhancer (SFE), are widely used in consumer goods industry, of which the interfacial characteristics underpin the performance and sustainability of the formulated products. Our previous studies show that the orientation of molecules at the solid/ambient interface controls the mechanical properties, which in turn influence the final product properties and performance at customer, understanding interfacial conformation of the polymer and surfactants is crucial. SFE formulations, composed of quaternary ammonium ester (EQ) and fatty acid (FA) were investigated by force spectroscopy based on atomic force microscopy (AFM) in the preliminary work. Two types of materials (A/B) were studied and showed different behaviour with formulations of type A materials showing AFM retract curves with multiple pull-offs events. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was unable to differentiate between the formulation components. However, all samples studied present a characteristics break-through event in the approach curves, implying that the AFM tip passes through different molecular layers as it penetrates the coating. We propose to use neutron reflectometry in combination with differential isotopic labelling of FA and EQ components to resolve the compositional distribution as a function of distance and investigate how the interfacial structure changes as a function of humidity, mimicking conditions that are relevant to the actual product.

Principal Investigator: Miss Lucie Hlubinkova
Local Contact: Dr Stephen Hall
Experimenter: Professor Zhenyu Zhang

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2510610

ISIS Experiment Number: RB2510610

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
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Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Miss Lucie Hlubinkova et al; (2025): Investigating the molecular orientation and configuration in thin films of soft solid formulations, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2510610

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.