Technology: Langmuir Blodgett

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Tech Note | Technology: Force Tensiometry, Optical Tensiometry

Optical vs. Force Tensiometry

Surface and interfacial tensions of liquids significantly affect their wetting behavior and interactions with other substances. These forces influence how liquids spread on solid surfaces, which are critical to coating…

Tech Note | Technology: Scanning Electron Microscopy

Phenom Pharos: A Compact Desktop STEM for Screening Negative Stained Samples

The Phenom Pharos Desktop SEM/STEM is a compact and affordable solution designed for cryo-electron microscopy groups and core facilities looking to streamline experimental workflows. This technical note evaluates the Phenom…

Tech Note | Technology: Optical Tensiometry

Accounting for Surface Roughness in Contact Angle Measurements: A Practical Approach

Contact angle measurements are a fundamental tool to understand the chemistry of surfaces and their wetting properties. Typically measured with side-on optical tensiometry, contact angle measurements are carried out by…

Tech Note | Technology: Scanning Electron Microscopy

Automated SEM/EDS Monitoring of Steel Inclusions for Compliance with ASTM Standards

In modern steel manufacturing, non-metallic inclusions represent a critical quality concern due to their effects on mechanical properties and overall steel functionality. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray…

Tech Note | Technology: Ion Milling

Cross-Section Polishing for Microanalysis

Characterizing internal structures using a surface analysis technique like scanning electron microscope (SEM) requires the preparation of a cross section of the sample. Cross-sectional sample prep involves generating a clean,…

Tech Note | Technology: Optical Tensiometry

Surface Roughness in Contact Angle Measurements – A Theoretical Perspective

Contact angle measurements are a fundamental tool to understand the chemistry of surfaces and their wetting properties. Typically measured with side-on optical tensiometry, contact angle measurements are carried out by…

Tech Note | Technology: Optical Tensiometry

Detecting Residual Solvent in Polymer films with Contact Angle Measurements

Thin polymer films, membranes, and coatings are vital for functionalizing surfaces, as a protection layer, filtering chemicals, or tuning a material’s surface interactions. When fabricating thin polymeric layers, organic solvents…

Tech Note | Technology: Scanning Electron Microscopy

Large-scale SEM Imaging with Automated Image Mapping

Acquiring large-scale images using SEM can result in trade-offs between resolution and time-to-data, making the technique difficult to apply in applications where large field-of-view imaging is needed. This Tech Note…

Tech Note | Technology: Quartz Crystal Microbalance

Optimizing Chemical Mechanical Planarization (CMP) Processes with QCM-D

Chemical mechanical planarization (CMP), also called chemical-mechanical polishing, is a critical set of processes in semiconductor manufacturing. CMP utilizes chemical etching and physical grinding with abrasive materials to level or…

Tech Note | Technology: Optical Tensiometry

Leveraging Contact Angle Measurements to Predict Polymer Blending

Plastics made from polymeric materials are an integral part of many consumer goods and products. Whether it is the packaging or the product itself, different polymers can provide material and…

Tech Note | Technology: Scanning Electron Microscopy

Monitoring Technical Cleanliness with Automated SEM & EDS

Technical cleanliness is the exhaustive control of contamination across manufacturing and assembly of components to protect product integrity. In precision systems, undesirable particles can be detrimental to functionality, eroding and…

Tech Note | Technology: Scanning Electron Microscopy

Preparing Powders for Scanning Electron Microscopy

Powders are one of the most common forms of materials that are analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The distribution of particle sizes, composition, and surface morphology plays an important…

App Note | Technology: Quartz Crystal Microbalance

Overcoming Obstacles in Food Science with QCM-D

Food science plays a crucial role in meeting the demands of a growing population, ensuring a consistent supply of safe and nourishing food, and promoting sustainable practices to minimize waste….

App Note | Technology: Scanning Electron Microscopy

Characterization of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Components

Fuel cells are electrochemical devices that can provide clean, renewable energy for widespread applications, from powering handheld devices to entire buildings. Of the various fuel cell types, arguably the most…

App Note | Technology: Force Tensiometry

Optimizing Lithium-Ion Battery Materials with Force Tensiometry

Batteries are a decisive element of modern mobile power consumption. While batteries have already been integrated irrevocably into smaller devices such as smartphones or portable computers, rechargeable batteries are increasingly…

Tech Note | Technology: Scanning Electron Microscopy

Automated Gunshot Residue Analysis Using Scanning Electron Microscopy

Meticulous collection, analysis, and interpretation of material obtained from crime scenes are imperative in ensuring accurate evidence is presented during legal proceedings. Forensic scientists investigate a diverse range of samples…

Tech Note | Technology: Scanning Electron Microscopy

Python Programming for SEM Automation

Scanning electron microscopes (SEMs) are staple tools for analyzing the structures and elemental makeup of surfaces with high resolution. Bringing SEM instruments in-house can provide immense value to organizations that…

App Note | Technology: Scanning Electron Microscopy

Analyzing Morphological and Mechanical Properties at the Microscale for Tissue Engineering

Regenerative medicine is an evolving field focused on developing advanced technologies that harness the body’s natural healing abilities to restore or replace damaged tissues and organs in the body lost…

App Note | Technology: Optical Tensiometry

Surface Free Energy for Monitoring Surface Cleanliness

Surface Free Energy (SFE) of a solid surface is analogous to the surface tension of a liquid. Just as the surface tension of a liquid is a result of the…

Tech Note | Technology: Electrospinning

Controlling the Orientation of Electrospun Nanofibers for Tissue Engineering

Electrospinning is a versatile and promising technique for fabricating nanofibrous scaffolds that can biomimic the extracellular matrix (ECM) of natural tissues. These nanofibrous scaffolds have several unique properties, including a…

Tech Note | Technology: CryoEM Sample Preparation

Overcoming the Learning Curve of CRYO-EM Sample Preparation

Advancements in cryogenic transmission electron microscopes coupled with recent breakthroughs in detectors and automation have moved single-particle cryo-EM from its revolution phase to a faster, more powerful era. Software and…

App Note | Technology: Optical Tensiometry

Contact Angle Measurement for Monitoring Surface Cleanliness

Surface contamination is a concern for a wide variety of industries and their production processes such as polishing, surface treatments, coatings, bonding, and etching. Contamination can arise from a variety…

App Note | Technology: Scanning Electron Microscopy

Morphological and Compositional Analysis of Battery Materials

The crux of energy storage research concerns optimizing the properties of electrochemical devices to improve efficiency, reliability, safety, and cost – four core concepts that push ceaseless efforts into the…

App Note | Technology: Scanning Electron Microscopy

Bioavailability of Pharmaceutical Nanoparticle Formulations

Every affliction of the body has its respective remedy, some targeted solution designed to alleviate or prevent negative health effects. Such remedies may have a long list of responsibilities to…

App Note | Technology: Quartz Crystal Microbalance

In Situ Monitoring of the Solid Electrolyte Interphase

A good understanding of different electrochemical processes that occur inside a device is critical for the optimization of various components of rechargeable batteries. Since all critical processes of batteries and…

App Note | Technology: Electrospinning

Tissue scaffolds: Perfect nanofibers with Electrospinning

What if you could quickly and easily customize the porosity, flexibility, and strength of your tissue scaffolds to mimic the properties of native tissue more closely? Fabricating tissue scaffolds to…

Measuring the advancing and receding contact angle on a tilted surface

App Note | Technology: Optical Tensiometry

Superhydrophobicity, Oleophobicity, and Contact Angle

Introduction Superhydrophobic and oleophobic surfaces are receiving increased attention because of their potential to provide breakthroughs in applications such as anti-fouling, self-cleaning, and anti-freezing. Contact angle measurements are often used…

App Note | Technology: Electrospinning

Controlling temperature and relative humidity for electrospinning and electrospraying sample development

Over the past decade, the emergence and evolution of electrospinning and electrospraying manufacturing techniques have accelerated the development of various applications including tissue engineering, drug delivery, filtration, and energy storage….

App Note | Technology: Quartz Crystal Microbalance

Effect of Excipients, Storage, and Formulation Conditions on Therapeutic Protein Stability

Why are protein – container enclosure interactions important? During manufacturing, storage and delivery processes, therapeutic proteins encounter several surfaces and materials, such as metals, glasses, oils, and polymers. These can…

Contact angles demonstrating hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces

App Note | Technology: Optical Tensiometry

Cleanliness and quality control testing by contact angle – how clean is my surface?

Contamination can have a wide variety of undesirable effects in manufacturing processes such as polishing, surface treatment, coating application, and etching. Some sources include finger oils from handling, atmospheric dust…

Powder surface as seen in an optical tensiometer

App Note | Technology: Optical Tensiometry

Measuring the contact angle, surface free energy and wettability of powders

For powdered materials such as pharmaceuticals, dyes, proppants, and foods, wettability is an important parameter to characterize. As the powders are immersed into a liquid, fluid may wick into the…

Image of tilting contact angle

App Note | Technology: Optical Tensiometry

Optical Tensiometry as a Tool to Measure Coating Properties and Substrate Adhesion

How can Optical Tensiometry Characterize Coatings? Coatings are used to modify the properties of the substrate that they cover and are ubiquitous in our everyday lives. They can have functional,…

Energy Storage Concept Image

App Note | Technology: Quartz Crystal Microbalance

Characterization of Surfaces and Surface Reactions in Energy Storage using EQCM-D

There has been a global shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy to protect civilization from the worst effects of climate change. Special focus has been given to solar and…

Spontaneous surfactant migration in an air-liquid system and oil-water system

App Note | Technology: Optical Tensiometry

Dilatational Rheology of Foams, Emulsions, and Suspensions

The Attension Theta Flex and the Pulsating Drop Module PD-200 Emulsions and foams play a key role in important products such as foods1, pharmaceuticals2, and oil recovery formulations3. The stability…

App Note | Technology: Scanning Electron Microscopy

Phenom Desktop SEM: ParticleX as an Enabling Technology in Additive Manufacturing

In the past two decades additive manufacturing (AM) has rapidly evolved from a cutting-edge technology into a routine manufacturing method. The ability to quickly print complex shapes in a cost-effective…

Optical image of pendant drop of a sample

App Note | Technology: Optical Tensiometry

How Interfacial Rheology Can Replace Inefficient Emulsion Characterization in Droplet-Based Microfluidics

Emulsion Stability in Droplet-Based Microfluidics There are a lack of tools to efficiently predict emulsion stability. Stabilizing emulsions is a significant problem in foods [1], personal care products [2], pharmaceuticals…

VitroJet autogrid sample preparation

App Note | Technology: CryoEM Sample Preparation

Automation and Jet Vitrification: Keys to Revolutionizing Single Particle Analysis Sample Preparation

The Future of Grid Preparation Plunge freezing has been the gold standard for cryoEM single particle sample prep several decades now [1]. For better and for worse, it did the…

DIY cloth masks

App Note | Technology: Scanning Electron Microscopy

Effectiveness of DIY masks: How do they work?

The rapid worldwide spread of the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has upended all conventional thinking regarding the scope of the damage it is causing and ways to control…

App Note | Technology: Scanning Electron Microscopy

Effectiveness of Masks: Fast Answers with Automated SEM Analysis

The worldwide spread of COVID-19 has everyone questioning how to protect themselves and help those on the front line of the coronavirus. The CDC recommends facemasks be used for those…

App Note | Technology: Quartz Crystal Microbalance

Analyzing cleaning of hard surfaces using QCM-D

The rapid spread of coronavirus, COVID-19, is currently the most concerning matter worldwide. The outbreak has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). The U.S. Food and…

App Note | Technology: Optical Tensiometry

Why Your Surgical Mask Orientation Matters: How We Use Wettability to our Advantage

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, surgical masks and N95 respirators (Fig. 1) have gained significant media attention, both for their use as personal protective equipment (PPE) and their limited supply. While…

Schematic of a fringe-projection phase shifting measurement

App Note | Technology: Optical Tensiometry

Simultaneous Characterization of Topography and Contact Angle

Improved control and design of dental and orthopedic bone implants through simultaneous characterization of topography and contact angle To ensure the safety and quality of medical implants, parameters such as…

COVID-19 Virus

App Note | Technology: Quartz Crystal Microbalance

Virus Detection with Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM-D)

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has become a worldwide pandemic that has caused massive disruptions at all levels of life, from government infrastructure and markets to our day-to-day interactions with each…

Oil and gas enhanced oil gas EOR

App Note | Technology: Optical Tensiometry

Enhancing EOR with High-Pressure Contact Angle Measurements

Improving Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) with the Attension Theta Flex High Pressure Chamber Measurements As oil demand continues to rise, many oil reservoirs are no longer capable of producing oil…

Plasma Treated protocol sessle drop analysis

App Note | Technology: Optical Tensiometry

Quantifying Enhanced Wettability and Time-dependency of Plasma-treated Polypropylene

Wettability and Adhesion Problems for Polypropylene (PP) Products When applying coatings, inks, adhesives, and other materials to a surface, controlling the surface properties becomes critical. In particular, the wettability –…

App Note | Technology: Force Tensiometry

Accurately Monitoring Interfacial Tension of Transformer Oil Quality

How the Attension Sigma 702ET Quickly and Easily Monitors the Interfacial Tension and Quality of Transformer Oil Transformers account for nearly 60% of the cost of high voltage substations [1],…

The Polishing AR ion time dependence.

App Note | Technology: Ion Milling

Use the Right Tools to Create the Best EBSD Images

High Resolution Electron Back Scatter Diffraction (EBSD) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) Surface/Cross Section Sample Preparation In Electron Back Scatter Diffraction (EBSD) studies, surface quality is a key issue. Diffraction…

Ion Milling at different energies.

App Note | Technology: Ion Milling

High Performance Transmission Electron Microscopy with Focused Ion Beam Milling

Focused Ion Beam (FIB) Sample Milling for High Performance Transmission Electron Microscopy Investigation (TEM) The use of focused ion beam (FIB) systems has become the method of choice for site-specific…

App Note | Technology: Scanning Electron Microscopy

Fractography

Fractography is a method in failure analysis for studying the fracture surface of materials. Studying the characteristics of the fractured surface can help to determine the cause of failure in…

App Note | Technology: Scanning Electron Microscopy

Evaluation of Filtration Fibers & Membranes

Fiber-based filtration systems clean everything from the air we breathe to the oil that runs our engines. Many filters, like high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) and ultra-low particulate air (ULPA) filters,…

App Note | Technology: Scanning Electron Microscopy

Fiber and Filter Quality Measurements

Filtration and fibers used to separate liquids from particles or particles from air play an important role in our everyday lives. Filters help to clean air, water or oil for…

App Note | Technology: Scanning Electron Microscopy

Grain Size Measurement of Ceramics

Ceramics often have grain sizes and microstructure that impact material performance. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images are used to quantify the grain sizes and distribution. Grain boundaries and microstructure can be…

Temperature's effect on fiber diameter and distribution

App Note | Technology: Electrospinning

Electrospinning for Improved Nanofiber Production

Electrospinning overcomes limitations There are multiple manufacturing processes for fiber production. Depending on the physical and/or chemical properties of the materials to be used in some techniques are more feasible…

3 different configurations for fiber production

App Note | Technology: Electrospinning

Electrospun Nanofiber Structure and Morphology

Using electrospinning technique with different materials The beauty of the electrospinning technique is that it allows the production of fibers in different structural organization and morphologies to meet their application…

Nanofiber Characterization of Electrospun Fibers

Why Phenom SEM is needed for Fiber Analysis Extruded fibers used for nonwoven textiles are found in many consumer products including filters, wipes, automotive components, upholstery, sports apparel, roofing materials,…

App Note | Technology: Scanning Electron Microscopy

Electron Microscopy of Minerals

Scanning Electron Microscope Additional Signals Scanning electron microscopy is now a routine technology employed in the study of rocks and minerals. In addition to providing high-resolution images, electron microscopes generate a…

App Note | Technology: Electrospinning

Electrospun Patches for Regenerative Medicine

Electrospun Scaffolding for Regenerative Medicine In order to properly regenerate cells and tissues that have been damaged or lost due to a disease or age, the scientific community has employed…

Electrosprayed CDC cell distribution time

App Note | Technology: Electrospinning

Co-Spinning Fibers and Cells to Improve Infiltration

Improving Cell Infiltration in Electrospun Nanofibers It is common knowledge that in order to biomimic the extracellular matrix (ECM) structure, electrospun fibers can be created with fiber diameter ranging in…

Glioma cells and aligned electrospun PCL fibers

App Note | Technology: Electrospinning

Cell Growth and Proliferation on Electrospun Scaffolds

Electrospun Scaffolding for Cell Growth and Tissue Engineering In any type of scaffolding material cell migration, proliferation and differentiation are a key parameter for the success of tissue engineering and…

Electrospun tubular shaped scaffolds

App Note | Technology: Electrospinning

Biomimetic Mechanical Properties of Tissue Constructs

Electrospun Nanofiber Scaffolding for Blood Vessels One of the main goals of electrospun fibrous scaffolding is to completely biomimic the extracellular matrix (ECM) environment. This includes incorporating cells and sustaining…

Comparison of blood vessels with electrospun fibers

App Note | Technology: Electrospinning

Bioactive Incorporation into Spun Scaffolds

Electrospun Scaffolds that are Thermolabile Bioactive Scaffolding techniques such as 3D printing and melt electrospinning can resemble the extracellular matrix (ECM) environment, however, due to the high temperatures involved they…

App Note | Technology: Electrospinning

Electrospun Grafts for Wound Healing

Regenerative Medicine Utilizing Electrospun Scaffolds for Wound Healing Imagine a world where no organ donors are needed; a world where any type of tissue can be artificially created and function…

Processed SEM image of Particle

App Note | Technology: Scanning Electron Microscopy

Pharmaceutical Particle Characterization

Particle Analysis and characterization with the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) Understanding the physical characteristics of particles in dry powder materials is an essential aspect of drug product development. The particle…

Generic EDS of a bulk tablet.

App Note | Technology: Scanning Electron Microscopy

Pharmaceutical Deformulation

The Analytical Tools Needed for Deformulation of Pharmaceutical Imaging plays an integral role in the deformulation of any product. Separation and quantification of individual ingredients often require a suite of…

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