TABLE OF CONTENTS The method of Langmuir-Blodgett films was established between 1920 and 1930. The main idea of this technique lies in the formation of a monolayer of closely packed amphiphilic molecules on the surface of the aqueous subphase, followed by film transfer onto the solid substrate during its up-and-down movement through the water surface. The study of the molecular layers on the water surface was derived from nineteenth century work by Pockels [139] and Lord Rayleigh [140] on the behavior of fatty acid molecules on the water surface. For the first time, the surface pressure-area isotherms were measured, and it was proven that fatty acids form true monolayers on the water surface. In 1920s, Langmuir continued the experimental study of different amphiphilic molecules in more detail [141]. The precise instrumentation for this study (i.e., the Langmuir trough and Langmuir balance) was developed, and the monolayers' behavior was described theoretically. For this work, Irving Langmuir received a Nobel Prize in 1932 "for discoveries and investigations in surface chemistry." Later in 1930s, his student and colleague Katharine Blodgett developed the technique of multilayer film growth by sequential deposition of preformed amhiphilic monolayers onto solid surfaces [142]. From this work, the name Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films was derived. Since then, for years, this subject was regarded as exotic, having a very limited usage in the field of colloid chemistry, with no foreseeable industrial implementation. The only application that appeared in the 1970s was the use of highly periodic (in normal...
