Optical absorption spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy

Mineral-liquid or mineral-gas interfaces under reactive conditions cannot be studied easily using standard UHV surface science methods. To overcome the pressure gap between ex situ UHV measurements and the in situ reactivity of surfaces under atmospheric pressure or in contact with a liquid, new approaches are required, some of which have only been introduced in the last 20 years, including scanning tunneling microscopy [28,29], atomic force microscopy [30,31], non-linear optical methods [32,33], synchrotron-based surface scattering [34—38], synchrotron-based X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy [39,40], X-ray standing wave... 

Scientists have used a wide arsenal of analytical techniques to monitor chemical and physical transformations of polymers following exposure to laser radiation, among which UV-Vis absorption, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy for detection of free radicals, GC/MS analysis, FTIR for detection of various functional groups and bonds, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) for the chemical composition of surfaces, optical, and fluorescence microscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM) for surface topography, quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) for in situ mass loss measurements, and so forth. 

The silver reduction from the Ag(L)2 complex (where L=2,3-dyhydroxy-4,6-di-tert-butylphenylthio-)acetic acid was studied in various electron donor media. Formation of silver nanoparticles was monitored by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and optical absorption UV-visible spectroscopy. 

Commonly used spectroscopic or analytical techniques for characterizing surfaces and coating layers on porous silicon are Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Auger electron spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry, fluorescence spectroscopy, UV-Vis absorption/reflectance spectroscopy, thin film optical interference spectroscopy, impedance spectroscopy, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, ellipsometry, nitrogen adsorption/desorp-tion analysis, and water contact angle. 

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