We present a new experimental system to observe reactions in biomembranes by combining laser spectroscopic techniques with phospholipid monolayers formed at oil/water interfaces. The system can monitor reactions through changes in interfacial tension at oil/water interfaces induced by the reactions under non-destructive and non-contact conditions. In addition, oil/water interfaces with defined ...

It is widely appreciated that an attractive polymer-substrate interaction can slow relaxation in thin supported polymer films and polymer nanocomposites. Recent measurements and simulations on nancomposites have indicated that this slowing of polymer dynamics occurs more strongly near a highly attractive particle surface where a "bound" layer having a much lower mobility can form, strongly infl...

Polymers are used in biological micro-nanoelectromechanical systems BioMEMS/NEMS applications due to their desirable mechanical properties, biocompatibility, and reduced cost relative to silicon microfabrication processes. Understanding the interfacial properties of the films that are used in BioMEMS/NEMS serves as a useful tool in obtaining higher device yield and greater mechanical reliabilit...

Studies of the partitioning of hydrophobic solutes between water and nonpolar solvents provide estimates for the energy cost of creating hydrophobic-water contacts. This energy is a factor of three lower than the work of adhesion derived from interfacial tension measurements. This discrepancy noted by Tanford in 1979 is widely viewed as a serious challenge to our understanding of hydrophobic in...

Our quantitative understanding of water adsorption onto salt surfaces under ambient conditions is presently quite poor owing to the difficulties in directly characterizing this interfacial layer under these conditions. Here we determine the thickness of the interfacial layer on NaCl at different relative humidities (RH) based on a novel application of atomic force spectroscopy and capillary con...

The paper contains an extended historical overview of research activities focused on determining interfacial potential and charge of dispersed particles from electrophoretic and coagulation dynamic measurements. Particular attention is paid to nano-suspensions for which application of Standard Electrokinetic Model (SEM) to analysis of experimental data encounters difficulties, especially, when ...

A significant episteric ("around a solid") distortion of the hydrogen-bond structure of water is promoted by solutes with nanoscale surface detail and physico-chemical complexity, such as soluble natural proteins. These structural distortions defy analysis because the discrete nature of the solvent at the interface is not upheld by the continuous laws of electrostatics. This work derives and va...

Ultrafast relaxation dynamics of electrons at dielectric-metal interfaces reflect the nature of the electronic interaction with both the substrate and the adsorbed layer. The full understanding of macroscopic electrical transport properties across an interface requires the knowledge of the energies, spatial extent of the interfacial electronic states, and the electron scattering length. With th...

Motivated by recent experiments, the isotropic-nematic phase transition in chromonic liquid crystals is studied. As temperature decreases, nematic nuclei nucleate, grow, and coalesce, giving rise to tactoid microstructures in an isotropic liquid. These tactoids produce topological defects at domain junctions (disclinations in the bulk or point defects on the surface). We simulate such tactoid e...

Selective solvent vapour annealing is used on a photovoltaic blend to enhance the interaction between the electron acceptor and the electron donor, simplifying thin films post-processing for photovoltaic applications. A remarkable improvement in the interfacial charge transfer in the bulk hetero-junction is attained, as measured by Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy.