English

To better understand the formation of short-chain acids in combustion systems

Chemical Physics 2008-01-18 v1

Abstract

Our study aims at a better control and understanding of the transfer of a complex [DNA supercoiled plasmid - dodecyltrimethylammonium surfactant] layer from a liquid-vapour water interface onto a silicon surface without any additional cross-linker. The production of the complexed layer and its transfer from the aqueous subphase to the substrate is achieved with a Langmuir-Blodgett device. The substrate consists of a reconstructed boron doped silicon substrate with a nanometer-scale roughness. Using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy measurements, it is shown that the DNA complexes are stretched in a disorderly manner throughout a 2-4 nm high net-like structure. The mechanism of transfer of this layer onto the planar surface of the semi-conductor and the parameters of the process are analysed and illustrated by atomic force microscopy snapshots. The molecular layer exhibits the typical characteristics of a spinodal decomposition pattern or dewetting features. Plasmid molecules appear like long flattened fibers covering the surface, forming holes of various shapes and areas. The cluster-cluster aggregation of the complex structure gets very much denser on the substrate edge. The supercoiled DNA plasmids undergo conformational changes and a high degree of condensation and aggregation is observed.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0801.2645,
  title  = {To better understand the formation of short-chain acids in combustion systems},
  author = {Frédérique Battin-Leclerc and A. A. Konnov and J. L. Jaffrezo and M. Legrand},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0801.2645},
  year   = {2008}
}