3D imaging of surface chemistry in confinement
(WorldNews Switzerland)

20.07.17- EPFL researchers have developed an optical imaging tool to visualize surface chemistry in real time. They imaged the interfacial chemistry in the microscopically confined geometry of a simple glass micro-capillary. The glass is covered with hydroxyl (-OH) groups that can lose a proton - a much-studied chemical reaction that is important in geology, chemistry and technology. A 100-micron long capillary displayed a remarkable spread in surface OH bond dissociation constant of a factor of a billion. The research has been published in Science. Geological, catalytic, biological and chemical processes are driven by surface chemical heterogeneities, electrostatic fields and...