Surface force methods

The technological importance of thin films in snch areas as semicondnctor devices and sensors has led to a demand for mechanical property infonnation for these systems. Measuring the elastic modnlns for thin films is mnch harder than the corresponding measurement for bnlk samples, since the results obtained by traditional indentation methods are strongly perturbed by the properties of the substrate material. Additionally, the behaviour of the film under conditions of low load, which is necessary for the measnrement of thin-film properties, is strongly inflnenced by surface forces [75]. Since the force microscope is both sensitive to surface forces and has extremely high depth resolntion, it shows considerable promise as a teclnhqne for the mechanical characterization of thin films. 

Ultra-high vacuum (UHV) surface science methods allow preparation and characterization of perfectly clean, well ordered surfaces of single crystalline materials. By preparing pairs of such surfaces it is possible to fonn interfaces under highly controlled conditions. Furthennore, thin films of adsorbed species can be produced and characterized using a wide variety of methods. Surface science methods have been coupled with UHV measurements of macroscopic friction forces. Such measurements have demonstrated that adsorbate film thicknesses of a few monolayers are sufficient to lubricate metal surfaces [12, 181. 

Forced-Recirculation Reboilers In forced-recirculation reboilers, a pump is used to ensure circiilation of the liquid past the heattransfer surface. Force-recirculation reboilers may be designed so that boiling occurs inside vertical tubes, inside horizontal tubes, or on the shell side. For forced boihng inside vertical tubes. Fair s method (loc. cit.) may be employed, making only the minor modification that the recirculation rate is fixed and does not need to be balanced against the pressure available in the downcomer. Excess pressure required to circiilate the two-phase fluid through the tubes and back into the column is supphed by the pump, which must develop a positive pressure increase in the hquid. 

The nanometer level of characterization is necessary for nanochemistry. We have learned from the history of once-new disciplines such as polymer science that progress in synthesis (production method) and in physical and chemical characterization methods are essential to establish a new chemistry. They should be made simultaneously by exchanging developments in the two areas. Surface forces measurement is certainly unique and powerful and will make a great contribution to nanochemistry, especially as a technique for the characterization of solid-liquid interfaces, though its potential has not yet been fully exploited. Another important application of measurement in nanochemistry should be the characterization of liquids confined in a nanometer-level gap between two solid surfaces, for which this review cites only Refs. 42-43. 

Other, similar methods for measuring surface-surface interactions, which come under the generic heading of surface force apparatus, include the crossed-filament method. This utilizes a beam deflection technique similar to that now being used in some AFMs for the measurement of surface displacement [94]. Another technique for displacement measurement used in a similar SFA is that of a capacitance transducer. Both techniques suffer the criticism that separation is not measured at the point of interest, i.e., the gap between the two surfaces as measured in the FECO technique. 

In filtration, the particle-collector interaction is taken as the sum of the London-van der Waals and double layer interactions, i.e. the Deijagin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) theory. In most cases, the London-van der Waals force is attractive. The double layer interaction, on the other hand, may be repulsive or attractive depending on whether the surface of the particle and the collector bear like or opposite charges. The range and distance dependence is also different. The DLVO theory was later extended with contributions from the Born repulsion, hydration (structural) forces, hydrophobic interactions and steric hindrance originating from adsorbed macromolecules or polymers. Because no analytical solutions exist for the full convective diffusion equation, a number of approximations were devised (e.g., Smoluchowski-Levich approximation, and the surface force boundary layer approximation) to solve the equations in an approximate way, using analytical methods. 

In this paper we briefly describe the apparatus and experimental method, then consider the interactions between i) layers of polystyrene in cyclohexane under poor-solvent and ii) 0 - solvent conditions,iii) the interactions between adsorbed PEO layers in a good (aqueous) solvent and iv) the surface forces between layers of adsorbed poly-L-lysine, a cationic polyelectrolyte, in aqueous salt solutions. We consider briefly the implications of our results for the current theoretical understanding. 

J.L. Parker A Novel Method for Measuring the Force Between Two Surfaces in a Surface Force Apparatus. Langmuir 8, 551 (1992). 

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... 

A number of techniques have been developed over the years to determine colloidal and surface forces as well as interatomic and intermolecular forces of interest in colloid and surface chemistry. These methods can be divided into two groups (a) indirect methods and (b) direct methods. We discuss examples of both in other chapters. It is therefore useful to consider these methods here briefly. 

The texture and structure of foods is very delicate, therefore experimental methods which cause no or vety little structural damage has to be applied in their investigations. Such techniques, the surface force balance and back-light scattering methods and dielectrometry will be also discussed in the chapter. 

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