ABSTRACT

Basic Information

Abstract Number:	1030 - 3
Author Name:	Curtis Marcott - Light Light Solutions
Session Title:	SPECIAL SESSION: International Year of Light (SAS)
Event Type:	Symposia
Event Title:	Near-Field Mid-IR Imaging in the Material Sciences

Presider Name:	Bernhard Lendl	Co-Author:	Michael Lo, Qichi Hu, Craig Prater, Kevin Kjoller
Affiliation:	Vienna University of Technology	Affiliation:	Anasys Instruments

Date:	Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Start Time:	09:10 AM (Slot #3)
Location:	245

Abstract Content

The development and performance of materials with specific desired properties, such as strength, ductility, durability, resistance to fracture, opacity, conductance, etc., often depend on sub-micrometer-sized structural features. Understanding the chemical nature of these small features can potentially lead to more rapid convergence on formulation parameters and the efficient production of superior materials. Although surface characterization techniques such as atomic force microscopy (AFM) provide high resolution imagery of the topography of sub-micrometer-sized features, little chemical information is typically derived from these images. Infrared (IR) spectroscopy, on the other hand, is a well-established chemical characterization technique capable of identifying specific molecular components, including their polymorphic form, molecular orientation, and specific chemical environment. Unfortunately, conventional Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) microspectroscopy instrumentation, does not provide this information at high enough spatial resolution, because it is limited by diffraction physics to be on the order of the wavelength of light used to make the measurement (3-10 micrometers). The recent development of near-field mid-IR spectroscopic approaches, which detect the IR spectral information at the small-diameter tip of an AFM, have improved the spatial resolution by about two orders of magnitude. Several examples are presented which demonstrate how this powerful nanoscale chemical characterization capability can help provide important understanding of how material component interactions relate to the ultimate properties of the material. Examples include polymer blends and composites, microdomain-forming polymer films, and oriented fibers.