Incorporation of Erythrosin B Within the Restricted Geometry of Langmuir Monolayer and Langmuir-Blodgett Films of Octadecylamine

This paper reports the monolayer characteristics of cationic octadecylamine (ODA) on both distilled water and aqueous Erythrosine B (EB) dye solution at the air-water interface. From the pressure-area isotherms at various pHs, EB anions in the subphase were found to interact with the insoluble monolayer of cationic octadecylamine (ODA). Adsorption kinetics shows that the amount of dye adsorbed depends on the concentration of the dye present in the subphase. It was observed that the adsorption process mainly occurred due to the electrostatic interaction between the cationic amino group of long chain amine and the anionic part of EB. The spectroscopic characteristics of the mixed LB films, solution, have been compared using UV-vis absorption and fluorescence spectroscopic data. These studies indicate the formation of aggregates in the thin films. Scanning electron microscopic study certainly confirms the presence of aggregates of EB dye in the (ODA-EB) mixed LB films.