Scanning Auger Microscopy Studies of Silane Films Grown on Plasma-Modified HOPG Surfaces
Jade K Taylor1, Jasmine R Wiese2, Sarah L Harmer3
1Flinders Institute for NanoScale Science and Technology, and Flinders Microscopy and Microanalysis, Flinders University, PO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5042, Australia. jade.taylor@flinders.edu.au.
Abstract:
The growth of silane films on plasma oxidized highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surfaces has been studied using wet chemical deposition of propyltrimethoxysilane (PTMS) and propyldimethylmethoxysilane (PDMMS). Scanning Auger microscopy (SAM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to investigate the chemical composition and morphology of the silane films. The effects of several deposition parameters were examined, including the necessity of oxidation of the HOPG surface, addition of water with the silane, and rinsing before curing. The optimal conditions needed to create a complete uniform film differ for the two silanes due to differences in their structures. Both silanes require an oxidized HOPG surface for a film to grow, the addition of water with PTMS results in a thicker film, while the addition of water with PDMMS decreases the film growth. Rinsing of both samples before curing removes physisorbed species, leaving only the covalently bonded film on the surface.
Related Concept Videos
Scanning Electron Microscopy
Fundamental Principles
Accelerated...
Leaky Scanning
Composition of Blood Plasma
Surface Tension and Surface Energy
Consider a beaker filled with liquid. The bulk molecules in the liquid experience equal attractive forces on all sides with the surrounding molecules. However, the surface molecules experience a net attractive force downward due to the bulk molecules. The surface of the liquid behaves like a stretched membrane,...
Modified Boxplots
However, the box plot does not tell the reader about outliers - values that lie far from the center of the data. We can modify the standard box and whisker plot to identify the outliers and visualize the actual spread of the data in a sample.
Initially, we calculate the adjusted...
Plasma Membrane in Bacteria and Archaea


