Surface X-ray Scattering reveals molecular structures of novel metallo gemini surfactants

Metallo-gemini surfactants (MGSs) form a novel class of interesting gemini surfactants (GS), which incorporate a metal center in place of the traditional organic linker. We apply for 18 shifts of beamtime at ID10-SURF for grazing incidence X-ray diffraction and X-ray reflectivity experiments on Langmuir films of MGSs. The measurements aim to answer open questions about MGSs' molecular structure and organization, focusing on metal-mediated headgroup coordination of hexadecyl pyridine-n-carboxylate with Zr and Zn, and compared to the free ligands and the reference traditional GS molecules. The selected samples have been characterized using atomic force microscopy, Brewster angle microscopy, and Langmuir measurements. Synchrotron-based surface scattering is essential to gain information on the molecular architecture and function of MGS.