| Abstract
| - The surface forces apparatus was used to study the variation with relative humidity of adhesion betweenmica and rough gold films coated with either a hydrophobic or hydrophilic self-assembled monolayer(SAM). Pull-off forces, as a function of relative humidity, were measured between mica and gold coatedwith either n-octadecanethiol or 1-hydroxylunicosanethiol. For the alcohol-terminated SAM, pull-off forcesincrease from 370 mN/m (dry conditions) to 845 mN/m (saturated conditions). For the methyl-terminatedSAM, pull-off forces increase from 160 mN/m (dry conditions) to 643 mN/m (saturated conditions). A quartzcrystal microbalance was used to obtain adsorption isotherms on the two different SAMs. Angstrom-levelchanges in adsorbed layer thickness are associated with marked changes in measured adhesion forces.
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