The adsorption of
carboxylic acid molecules at the calcite (104)
and the muscovite (001) surface was investigated using surface X-ray
diffraction. All four investigated carboxylic acid molecules, hexanoic
acid, octanoic acid, lauric acid, and stearic acid, were found to
adsorb at the calcite surface. Whereas the shortest two carboxylic
acid molecules, hexanoic acid and octanoic acid, showed limited ordering
and a flexible, disordered chain, the two longest carboxylic acid
molecules form fully ordered monolayers, i.e., these form highly structured
self-assembled monolayers. The latter molecules are oriented almost
fully upright, with a tilt of up to 10°. The oxygen atoms of
the organic molecules are found at similar positions to those of water
molecules at the calcite–water interface. This suggests that
in both cases, the oxygen atoms compensate for the broken bonds at
the calcite surface. Under the same experimental conditions, stearic
acid does not adsorb to K
+
and Ca
2+
-functionalized
muscovite mica because the neutral molecules do not engage in the
ionic bonds typical for the mica interface. These differences in adsorption
behavior are characteristic for the differences of the oil–solid
interactions in carbonate and sandstone reservoirs.