Acquisition of a Scanning Probe Microscope for Liquids Material Research and Student Training

这项拨款是用于购置一台具有良好温度控制和密封样品池的扫描探针显微镜，用于研究液体样品。该仪器将用于提供第一个SPM的润湿过渡或散装临界点附近的液体的表面行为的研究。这些测量将补充正在进行的光学研究这些现象，并提供了一个新的视角对这些问题。要研究的一些主题包括液滴形状、线张力和表面相互作用势。均匀的硅烷涂层和亲水/疏水硅烷图案化的硅衬底上的液滴将进行研究，以确定线张力和表面电位之间的相互作用。考虑的其他因素包括分子尺度的表面粗糙度和不均匀性对接触角和线张力的影响。表面现象，如吸附和润湿，在许多物理、化学和生物过程中起着极其重要的作用。关于吸附和润湿过程的重要信息，以及它们如何受到表面相互作用和同时发生在本体中的过程的影响，可以通过研究这些现象附近的表面或本体过渡点，如润湿过渡或本体临界点来推断。SPM应该有显着的影响，研究生和本科生的教育和培训，使他们能够进行光学和SPM测量相同或相似的现象。

This grant is for the acquisition of a scanning probe microscope (SPM) possessing both good temperature control and a sealed sample cell for the study of liquid samples. The instrument will be used to provide the first SPM study of surface behavior of liquids near either a wetting transition or a bulk critical point. These measurements will complement ongoing optical studies of these phenomena and provide a new perspective on these topics. Some subjects to be studied include droplet shapes, line tensions, and surface interaction potentials. Droplets on both homogeneous silane-coated and hydrophilic/hydrophobic silane-patterned silicon substrates will be studied to ascertain the interactions between the line tension and the surface potential. Other factors considered include the influence of molecular-scale surface roughness and heterogeneity on the contact angle and line tension. The study will significantly enhance understanding of the wettability of surfaces.Surface phenomena, such as adsorption and wetting, play extremely important roles in many physical, chemical and biological processes. Important information about the processes of adsorption and wetting, and how they are influenced by surface interactions and by processes occurring simultaneously in the bulk, can be deduced by studying these phenomena near either a surface or bulk transition point, such as a wetting transition or a bulk critical point. The SPM should have significant impact on the education and training of graduate and undergraduate students by enabling them to conduct both optical and SPM measurements of the same or similar phenomena.