With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation program (MRI), Benjamin L. Stottrup and colleagues Ronald Fedie, and Z. Vivian Feng from Augsburg College, Ping Wang from the University of Minnesota and Adam S. Green from the University of St. Thomas will acquire a Langmuir film balance and imaging system. The proposal is aimed at enhancing research to investigate: (1) basic questions of domain morphology in multi-component phase separated systems, i.e., model cell membranes; (2) the development of new metrics for product characterization which could impact industry; (3) the packing of polymer conjugated enzymes; and (4) the structure and behavior of biogenic materials, such as butterfly wings.
Lagmuir-Blodgett techniques are employed to study the interface between two phases such as air-liquid, liquid-liquid or oil-water interfaces and to characterize surface morphologies. The resulting information is used extensively in the fields of nanotechnology, membrane biophysics, materials science, and rheology to understand emulsifiers, enzyme congregation and thin films among other applications. The instrumentation will be used by undergraduates and graduate students in research and course work at institutions in the Minneapolis /St Paul area including Saint Paul community colleges.
The National Science Foundation supported the acquisition of a Langmuir film-balance and Brewster angle microscope at Augsburg College. The combined system provides a powerful and versatile tool for the characterization of self-assembled thin films of amphiphilic molecules at air-water and oil-water interfaces. With this instrumentation, the two dimensional packing of mono-molecular films is correlated to changes in surface tension, surface potential, and surface morphology of multi-component systems. These instrumentation resources are made available to researchers across a wide range of academic disciplines and research areas (e.g. biophysics, materials science, surface chemistry) in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul metropolitan area. As part of this project researchers have investigated the mixing behavior of cholesterol and phospholipid monolayers, packing of particulate thin films, interactions of fatty acids with nucleobases, and nanoparticle/lipid monolayer behavior. This instrumentation has been used by private individuals carrying out research for technology development and academic researchers at both large and small institutions. In addition to serving as a resource for researchers this instrumentation is regularly incorporated into both the training of students as well as undergraduate laboratory courses in physics and chemistry at Augsburg College. This provides an opportunity for a diverse group of students to be introduced to concepts of self-assembly, nanotechnology, and interfacial science.
