Brewster Angle Microscopes are used to visualise 2-D structures in monolayer films. The BAM 300 uses a laser and a CCD camera to provide real-time images on Langmuir films at the air/water interface or on dielectric substrates. Live video imaging at a lateral resolution of 1 μm and at speeds of up to 25 images/sec are recorded and displayed on the computer screen. This powerful and economical technique for non-contact studies of thin films is compatible with all KSV Langmuir Blodgett troughs.
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| BAM image of the lipid dimyristoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DMPE) on pure water (horizontal scale circa 600 micron) |
Applications
The KSV MicroBAM provides an affordable solution for non-invasive imaging of monolayers at the air-water interface. Real-time observation and recording of film structure enables dynamic activity to be captured.
Interfacial rheology is the dynamic response of monolayers to applied mechanical stress. The ISR 400 is a highly sensitive instrument that provides accurate quantitative measurements of shear stress at fluid interfaces. These measurements are not possible with rotational rheometers as they lack the sensitivity to probe within a thickness of a few nanometers.
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The instrument uses two Helmholtz coils to control the shearing motion of a Teflon coated magnetic needle floating at the interface. The movement of the needle is observed by digital camera and the difference between applied force and measured position provides phase shift, viscosity, elastic and loss moduli, creep and relaxation times. The Interfacial Shear Rheometer can be integrated with a standard Langmuir trough. The software allows control of the applied stress or strain so that real-time measurements of the surface rheological properties are presented.
Infrared Reflection Absorption Spectroscopy (IRRAS) is a powerful method to assess the chemical composition and orientation of molecules at an interface. The simple construction of the PMI 550 means there is no need to fiddle with mirrors and prisms in order to get the IR-beam to the interface. A goniometer carries a spectrometer on one arm and detector on the other, with simple screw adjustment allowing rapid alignment of the IR-beam. Integrated software allows mouse-click acquisition of spectra at user-defined surface pressures. The KSV Minitrough System is the recommended trough for use with this instrument.
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For IR-Spectroscopic analysis of floating monolayers
Infrared Reflection Absorption Spectroscopy takes advantage of the fact that p-polarized light (perpendicular to the reflective surface) is preferentially absorbed upon reflection, whereas s-polarized light is virtually unabsorbed. "Polarization Modulation" is used in conjunction with FTIR spectroscopy so that the incoming light is continuously modulated between s- and p- polarization at high frequency. This allows simultaneous measurement of spectra for the two polarizations, the difference providing surface specific information, and the sum providing the reference spectrum. As the spectra are measured simultaneously, the effect of water vapour is largely removed.
KSV SPOT is a compact and highly sensitive surface potential meter specifically designed for nanoscale film characterisation and molecular interaction studies. Based on the non-contact vibrating plate capacitor method it is ideal for studying monolayers at the air/water interface. Surface potential measurements are recorded and analysed with the KSV LayerBuilder software.
Applications
KSV SPOT complements surface pressure - area isotherm data with sensitive surface potential measurements allowing determination of:
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