Microscopy, spectroscopy and thermodynamic properties of thin surfactant films.

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Surface active agents (surfactants) are technologically important chemical compounds that are used in a wide variety of industrial and medical products ranging from soaps and detergents, to agrochemicals, to pharmaceutical excipients and therapeutic medications used to treat traumatic lung injuries. Surfactant molecules accumulate at surfaces (e.g. water and air, solid and water) and can impart useful properties to these interfaces. This research will provide the basis for rational design of better surfactant mixtures with applications in pulmonary lung surfactant therapy and in the development of optoelectronic devices. We will investigate factors that control how two different classes of surfactants (perfluorocarbons and hydrocarbons) mix, how to control the chemical and mechanical properties of these mixtures, and how these properties can ultimately lead to major improvements for the applications noted above. Our experiments involve cutting-edge measurements of thin surfactant films at surfaces of solids and on water, with particular emphasis on high-resolution, high-sensitivity microscopy and spectroscopy techniques. The rational design principle will lead to advances that will significantly improve performance of pulmonary lung surfactants, and hence, human health, as well as important sensing technology. In addition to offering scientific advances in a technologically important field, this program also provides excellent training and education for young Canadian scientists who will be tomorrow's scientific leaders.