Regular ArticleTwo-dimensional growth of crystalline nanofiber fabricated from Gemini-type amphiphilic diamide derivative inducing the thixotropic property

The formation of a nanofiber morphology at the mesoscopic scale and the molecular-level packing of a gemini-type amphiphilic diamide derivative with two hydrocarbons were investigated from two perspectives. First, it was confirmed that a diamide derivative with two hydrocarbons forms crystalline nanofibers even in a monomolecular layer. The height, thickness, and lattice spacing of the two-dimensional orthorhombic system of this crystalline nanofiber in the monolayer of a diamide derivative with two hydrocarbons are 5, 30, and 0.4 nm, respectively. Next, it was determined that the fibrous growth of the diamide derivative with two hydrocarbons, which contributes to the thixotropic ability, can be achieved by the addition of a quaternary ammonium cation with long chains, modified with montmorillonite. Here, the interlayer spacing was about 3.8 nm for the organo-modified montmorillonite and was consistent with the layer spacing of the diamide derivative having two hydrocarbons. The surface pressure-area isotherms of the mixed monolayers suggest that there is miscibility between these materials. From “the affinity due to the van der Waals interaction between the terminal groups of the alkyl chains” and the “similarity of layer spacing,” epitaxial growth is expected.

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