Scanning white-light interferometry as a novel technique to quantify the surface roughness of micron-sized particles for inhalation

A novel approach of measuring the surface roughness of spherical and flat micron-sized drug particles using scanning white-light interferometry was applied to investigate the surface morphology of micron-sized active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and excipient particles used for inhalation aerosols. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) and alpha-lactose monohydrate particles were chosen as model API and excipient particles, respectively. Both BSA and lactose particles were prepared with different degrees of surface corrugation using either controlled spray drying (four samples of BSA) or decantation (two samples of lactose). Particle size distributions were characterized by laser diffraction, and particles were imaged by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Surface roughness of the BSA and lactose particles was quantified by white-light optical profilometry using vertical scanning interferometry (VSI) at full resolution using a 50x objective lens with 2.0x and 0.5x fields of view for BSA and lactose, respectively. Data were analyzed using Vision software (version 32, WYKO), and surface roughness values are expressed as root-mean-square roughness ( Rrms). Furthermore, data were compared to topographical measurements made using conventional atomic force microscopy. Analysis of the optical profilometry data showed significant variation in BSA roughness ranging from 18.58 +/- 3.80 nm to 110.90 +/- 13.16 nm for the smoothest and roughest BSA particles, respectively, and from 81.20 +/- 15.90 nm to 229.20 +/- 68.20 nm for decanted and normal lactose, respectively. The Rrms values were in good agreement with the AFM-derived values. The particle morphology was similar to SEM and AFM images. In conclusion, scanning white-light interferometry provides a useful complementary tool for rapid evaluation of surface morphology and roughness in particles used for dry powder inhalation formulation.     

Surface modification of low density polyethylene (LDPE) film by low pressure O2 plasma treatment

In this work, low pressure glow discharge O₂ plasma has been used to increase wettability in a LDPE film in order to improve adhesion properties and make it useful for technical applications. Surface energy values have been estimated using contact angle measurements for different exposure times and different test liquids. In addition, plasma-treated samples have been subjected to an aging process to determine the durability of the plasma treatment. Characterization of the surface changes due to the plasma treatment has been carried out by means of Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to determine the presence of polar species such as carbonyl, carboxyl and hydroxyl groups. In addition to this, atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis has been used to evaluate changes in surface morphology and roughness. Furthermore, and considering the semicrystalline nature of the LDPE film, a calorimetric study using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) has been carried out to determine changes in crystallinity and degradation temperatures induced by the plasma treatment. The results show that low pressure O₂ plasma improves wettability in LDPE films and no significant changes can be observed at longer exposure times. Nevertheless, we can observe that short exposure times to low pressure O₂ plasma promote the formation of some polar species on the exposed surface and longer exposure times cause slight abrasion on LDPE films as observed by the little increase in surface roughness.     

Surface enhanced Raman scattering of pyridine on Ag electrodes formed with controlled-rate oxidation-reduction cycles

A study has been performed in which the SERS intensity of the pyridine ring breathing vibration at 1008 cm⁻¹ at Ag electrodes is found to be dependent upon both the large scale and atomic scale roughness of the electrode surface. The controlled surface morphology is generated by a double potential step ORC technique. Scanning electron microscopy of these surfaces reveals varying large scale surface morphologies that are dependent upon ORC rate. A correlation between SERS intensity and large scale surface morphology is interpreted in terms of significant contributions from electromagnetic effects in electrochemical SERS. The correlation between SERS intensity and this surface morphology is found to be independent of the presence of atomic scale roughness. The results presented here confirm and extend the results of previous investigations of the morphology of SERS-active surfaces.     

Influence of oxygen plasma treatment on poly(ether sulphone) films

Poly(ether sulphone) (PES) is one of the most widely used materials in the micro-electronics industry and a good candidate for the substrates of flexible optoelectronic devices. In this work, the influences of oxygen plasma treatment on the surface chemical composition, surface morphology and optical transparency of PES films were investigated by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and UV-visible spectrophotometry. The possible relations between the optical transparency of the substrate and the surface roughness and chemical composition were also studied. The oxygen plasma treatment seriously changed the surface chemical composition and made the surface more rough. Considerable amounts of sulphate species were found on the plasma-treated surface and the surface roughness values (R_a) increased monotonically with the increase of the treatment time. The PES films treated by 5 min, 15 min, 30 min and 45 min oxygen plasma demonstrated transmission of approximately 98, 94, 68 and 46%, respectively, in the wavelength range of 400-780 nm. The oxygen plasma induced decline of optical transparency of PES films might be attributed to both the increase of surface roughness and the changes of chemical composition of the film surface.     

Roughness assessment and wetting behavior of fluorocarbon surfaces

The wetting behavior of fluorocarbon materials has been studied with the aim of assessing the influence of the surface chemical composition and surface roughness on the water advancing and receding contact angles. Diamond like carbon and two fluorocarbon materials with different fluorine content have been prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition and characterized by X-ray photoemission, Raman and FT-IR spectroscopies. Very rough surfaces have been obtained by deposition of thin films of these materials on polymer substrates previously subjected to plasma etching to increase their roughness. A direct correlation has been found between roughness and water contact angles while a superhydrophobic behavior (i.e., water contact angles higher than 150° and relatively low adhesion energy) was found for the films with the highest fluorine content deposited on very rough substrates. A critical evaluation of the methods currently used to assess the roughness of these surfaces by atomic force microscopy (AFM) has evidenced that calculated RMS roughness values and actual surface areas are quite dependent on both the scale of observation and image resolution. A critical discussion is carried out about the application of the Wenzel model to account for the wetting behavior of this type of surfaces.     

Morphology,surface roughness,electron inelastic and quasielastic scattering in elastic peak electron spectroscopy of polymers

In elastic peak electron spectroscopy (EPES), the nearest vicinity of elastic peak in the low kinetic energy region reflects electron inelastic and quasielastic processes. Incident electrons produce surface excitations, inducing surface plasmons, with the corresponding loss peaks separated by 1–20 eV energy from the elastic peak. In this work, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and helium pycnometry are applied for determining surface atomic composition and bulk density, whereas atomic force microscopy (AFM) is applied for determining surface morphology and roughness. The component due to electron recoil on hydrogen atoms can be observed in EPES spectra for selected primary electron energies. Simulations of EPES predict a larger contribution of the hydrogen component than observed experimentally, where hydrogen deficiency is observed. Elastic peak intensity is influenced more strongly by surface morphology (roughness and porosity) than by surface excitations and quasielastic scattering of electrons by hydrogen atoms. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Friction and forces between cellulose model surfaces: a comparison

Four different cellulose model surfaces, and one silica surface, have been studied by means of atomic force microscopy (AFM). The normal interactions have been found to consist of a longer range double layer force with a short range steric interaction, the nature of which is extensively discussed. Both the surface charge and range of the steric force depend on the type of cellulose substrate used, as does the magnitude of the adhesion. Studies of friction reveal that surface roughness is the determining factor for the friction coefficient, with which it increases monotonically. The absolute value, however, is determined by the surface chemistry. All studied cellulose surfaces show similar behavior in response to xyloglucan addition.     

Fused-silica capillaries for capillary electrophoresis and gas chromatography: inner surface corrosion, within-batch differences, and influence of drawing parameters studied by atomic force microscopy.

Fused-silica capillaries for capillary electrophoresis (CE) and gas chromatography (GC) were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Differences from batch to batch and within one batch were often observed. Surface heterogeneity can be caused by bulk material, manufacturing parameters, or by aging effects. One batch of a fused-silica capillary was stored in water for three years at room temperature. The significant increase in surface roughness (measured as rms = root mean square) during this time is demonstrated. The effect of different drawing temperatures was investigated. Other drawing parameters were kept constant using one capillary batch. If the chosen drawing temperature was too low, the roughness values more than doubled. This increase in roughness did not affect the separation efficiency. However, the relative standard deviation (RSD%) of migration times and peak areas increased at the same time. Three capillary batches for gas chromatography of different inner diameters (250 microm, 320 microm, 530 microm) were also investigated. In all cases the higher rms values for surface roughness could be found at the beginning of the drawing process, although all values were close to atomic flatness.     

两亲磁性高分子微球的合成与表征

在Fe3O4磁流体存在下 ,通过苯乙烯与聚氧乙烯大分子单体 (MPEO)分散共聚制备两亲磁性高分子微球 .研究了聚氧乙烯大分子单体对微球粒径的影响 .用扫描电子显微镜 (SEM)、原子力显微镜 (AFM)表征了磁性微球的粒径、表面形貌以及表面粗糙度 ,用傅立叶红外光谱 (FTIR)鉴定了共聚物的结构 .随着聚合物中聚氧乙烯大分子单体含量的增加 ,微球表面的粗糙度增加 ,通过改变共聚物中MPEO的含量 ,可以得到含有 0 4～ 3 5mg g羟值的两亲磁性高分子微球     

Surface modification of natural rubber film by polymerisation of methyl methacrylate in water-based system

Polymerisation of methyl methacrylate (MMA) on the surface of natural rubber (NR) film was studied in order to increase the surface hardness, roughness and, hence, to decrease the friction coefficient of rubber. We used the two-step process: (i) swelling of MMA and tert-butyl hydroperoxide, emulsified in an aqueous solution of sodium dodecyl sulphate, onto the NR film surface, and (ii) subsequently immersing the swollen rubber strip into an alkaline aqueous solution of ferrous ion/fructose for redox initiation. The presence of PMMA on the NR surface was examined by attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). Increasing the concentration of ferrous ion caused an increase in MMA conversion. The surface morphology observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) in tapping mode revealed the aggregation of micronmetre-scale nodules on the modified surface. The surface hardness and roughness increased with increasing PMMA content.     

Characteristics of thin cellulose ester films spin-coated from acetone and ethyl acetate solutions

Spin-coated films of cellulose acetate (CA), cellulose acetate propionate (CAP), cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB) and carboxymethylcellulose acetate butyrate (CMCAB) have been characterized by ellipsometry, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and contact angle measurements. The films were spin-coated onto silicon wafers, a polar surface. Mean thickness values were determined by means of ellipsometry and AFM as a function of polymer concentration in solutions prepared either in acetone or in ethyl acetate (EA), both are good solvents for the cellulose esters. The results were discussed in the light of solvent evaporation rate and interaction energy between substrate and solvent. The effects of annealing and type of cellulose ester on film thickness, film morphology, surface roughness and surface wettability were also investigated. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Characterization of Fe3O4/P(St-MPEO) Amphiphilic Magnetic Polymer Microspheres

IntroductionMagnetic microspheres have been widely usedin many fields,such as targetdrug,cell separationand enzyme immunoassay,since the past twentyyears because of their relatively rapid and easymagnetic separation[1] .Although a poly(ethyleneoxide) supported- catalyst system with a solublepolymer as the carrier can easily keep the activityand the selectivity of the catalyst,its recovery hasto be performed by filtration or precipitation fromthe reaction medium,which is time- consuming andener…     

Multifractal analysis of sputtered CaF2 thin films

The surface morphologies of CaF₂ thin films prepared by electron beam evaporation technique were measured by atomic force microscopy. The films were bombarded by energetic ion beams of different fluences, which modified the surface morphology predominantly via the process of erosion. The dependence of the surface morphology on ion fluence was explored using multifractal analysis. It was found that the roughness of the film first decreased with ion fluence but increased at higher fluences. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Misfit-Dislocation Induced Surface Morphology of InGaAs/GaAs Heterostructures

The correlation between the surface cross-hatched morphology and the interfacial misfit dislocations in partially relaxed InGaAs/GaAs heterostructures was studied by means of atomic force microscopy and electron-beam induced current mode in a scanning electron microscope. A close correspondence between the misfit-dislocation network at the interface and the surface morphology shows that the cross-hatch development results primarily from the misfit-dislocation generation. Statistical analysis of the surface roughness reveals an anisotropy in strain relaxation of the epitaxial layers, which results from an asymmetry in the misfit-dislocation formation.     

Functionalization of Biodegradable Polyester for Tissue Engineering Applications

Summary: Chemical modification of polymer surface may potentially be used to create smart materials that can guide cellular adhesion, proliferation and maintenance of specific expression of molecules. The microbial polyester poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) has been attracted attention as promising material for applications in tissue engineering. In this work, a wet-chemical method, base ethylenediamine aminolysis, was performed to improve the adhesion of chondrocytes isolated from human articular cartilage to PHB films. The effects of chemical treatment on PHB films was evaluated by following changes in morphology and surface chemical composition using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. While the effect on cells morphology was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The treatment with ethylenediamine did not change significantly the morphology of the structures of PHB films surface. However, the roughness of the aminolyzed films was slightly higher. The introduction of nitrogen-containing groups was confirmed by XPS. In vitro experiments indicated that the surface modification did not have toxic effects in cells, since they could adhere and proliferate on modified PHB films. It was observed that long-time treatment improved ability of PHB films to support cell growth, which could be accounted to physicochemical and topological effects.     

Surface characterization of polybutadiene and natural rubbers oxidized by silver(II)

Silver (II) ion is a powerful oxidizing mediator that was used for surface modification of vulcanized polybutadiene rubber (BR) and natural rubber (NR) through mediated electrochemical oxidation (MEO). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) pictures showed that surface morphology of the oxidized rubbers was changed so that some cracks and holes appeared on the surface in macroscopic scale. This is possibly due to chain scission caused by alkane group formation which is in turn in accordance with the attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectra. The amounts of hydroxyl and carbonyl type surface functional groups were also increased in both oxidized rubbers. The results obtained by atomic force microscopy (AFM) showed that the surface roughness for both rubbers was changed significantly from nano- to micro-scale. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXA) expresses that surface concentration of atomic oxygen for both BR and NR was increased significantly. Also surface polarity of the treated rubbers was enhanced based on contact angle measurements leading to a higher hydrophilicity. Finally it was found that silver(II) has a somewhat greater oxidation impact on the surface of natural rubber than polybutadiene rubber.     

Atomic Force Microscope Studies of Membranes: Surface Pore Structures of Diaflo Ultrafiltration Membranes

Noncontact atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been used to investigate the surface pore structure of eight Diaflo ultrafiltration membranes covering a range of nominal molecular weight cutoff (MWCO) from 3000 to 300,000 and manufactured from three different polymer types. Excellent high resolution images were obtained. Analysis of the pore images gave quantitative information on the surface pore structure, in particular the pore size distribution and surface roughness. Such data is compared to that obtained by other techniques. Noncontact AFM is a facile and informative means of studying the surface structure of porous materials such as synthetic membranes.     

Correlation between Enterococcus faecalis biofilms development stage and quantitative surface roughness using atomic force microscopy.

Biofilms are assemblages of microorganisms and their associated extracellular products at an interface and typically with an abiotic or biotic surface. The study of the morphology of biofilms is important because they are associated with processes of biofouling, corrosion, catalysis, pollutant transformation, dental caries, drug resistance, and so forth. In the literature, biofilms have been examined by atomic force microscopy (AFM), which has proven to be a potent tool to study different aspects of the biofilm development on solid surfaces. In this work, we used AFM to investigate topographical changes during the development process of Enterococcus faecalis biofilms, which were generated on sterile cellulose nitrate membrane (CNM) filters in brain heart infusion (BHI) broth agar blood plates after 24, 36, 72, 192, and 360 h. AFM height images showed topographical changes due to biofilm development, which were used to characterize several aspects of the bacterial surface, such as the presence of extracellular polymeric substance, and the biofilm development stage. Changes in the development stage of the biofilm were shown to correlate with changes in the surface roughness as quantified through the mean roughness.     

Nucleation and growth of gas barrier aluminium oxide on surfaces of poly(ethylene terephthalate) and polypropylene: effects of the polymer surface properties

The nucleation and initial stages of growth of aluminium oxide deposited on two different polymer surfaces [poly(ethylene terephthalate), (PET) and amorphous polypropylene, (PP)] have been studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The permeation of water vapor and oxygen through the films has been measured. The initial stages of the growth of the oxide consisted of separated islands on the polymer surface. Further growth of oxide depends strongly on the surface morphology and chemical nature of the polymer surface. Growth on PET follows a layer‐by‐layer mechanism that maintains the native surface roughness of the polymer substrate. Growth on PP, however, follows an island mode, which leads to an increase in surface roughness. This may be due to a lack of chemical bonding between the polymer and the arriving metal–oxygen particles. The oxide layer on PET grows more densely than on PP, providing superior barrier to gas permeation. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 38: 3151–3162, 2000     

Molecular dynamics simulation of surface morphology and thermodynamic properties of polyaniline nanostructured film

To develop predictive models in nanostructured films, there is an ongoing research to validate molecular dynamics (MD) simulation results with experimental data. The morphology and surface topography of polyaniline (PANI) nanostructured film coated on a TiO₂ nanocrystalline surface were investigated by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy, respectively. The atomistic model of the simulated PANI was generated using energy minimization with a condensed‐phase optimized molecular potential for atomistic studies force field function to reach a thermodynamic equilibrium state. Various parameters of PANI such as density, energy, cavity size, and free volume distributions are calculated. MD simulation has also been used to obtain specific volume (V) as a function of temperature (T). It is demonstrated that this V–T curve can be used to determinate glass transition temperature T_g, reliably. Although experimental data available for the PANI film are very limited, simulation results such as density and T_g are in good agreement with the experimental values reported in the literature. Comparison of the surface topography of PANI demonstrates a reasonable trend between atomic force microscopy image analysis and the MD simulation results at various temperatures. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.