The biomaterial chitosan is used in the paper manufacturing industry, as a wound healing agent and in filtration amongst
others. In this paper the longitudinal sound velocity and acoustic impedance of thin films of chitosan of varying
thicknesses are determined by vector-contrast acoustic microscopy. The exploitation of the relative reflectivity
information from the maximum amplitude images and a comparison of the experimentally obtained V(z) curves with simulations using appropriate models are applied for the evaluation of the sound velocity. These results were compared to those previously obtained results with the same instrument.
Thin films of polystyrene (PS)/polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) blends were made by casting from solutions with
solvents of varying vapor pressure. Solvents used were chloroform, toluene and dichloromethane. Spin coating was
carried out at varying speeds yielding films of different thickness. Atomic force microscopy and phase-sensitive acoustic
microscopy were used to investigate the effects of spin speed and solvent vapor pressure on morphology. The domains
formed due to lateral phase separation proved to be strongly influenced by vapor pressure with completely different
surface structures for the three solvents. The films cast from high vapor pressure solutions displayed an increased surface
roughness. Surface morphology is explained by the relative solubility in the different solvents, surface affinity, spin speed and viscosity.
Soft matter acoustics is concerned with the application of acoustical techniques in the study of soft matter. In this
paper, we demonstrate the use of phase sensitive acoustic microscopy (PSAM) in synchronous mapping of threedimensional
heterogeneity of sample soft matter systems: thin film blends of polystyrene (PS) and poly
(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA). The use of acoustic phase contrast imaging for cure or health monitoring of
polymer systems is discussed.
Acoustic techniques are widely employed in health monitoring and nondestructive evaluation of materials. Phase micrographs obtained by phase-sensitive acoustic techniques often contain useful information complementary to the information acquirable from amplitude micrographs alone. Most of this information remains relatively unexploited due to the difficulties encountered in unwrapping and processing of the raw phase data. In this work, a review of the derivable information from the phase images of a scanning acoustic microscope with phase contrast (PSAM) is presented. Different perspectives and insights on sample structural and biological mesocale systems are discussed, predicated on phase information obtained by simulations and three-dimensional imaging.
Sundry image processing schemes for a high-frequency (1.2 GHz) scanning acoustic microscope that measures amplitude and phase are presented. Particular emphasis is paid to the acquisition of precise in-focus information, like the acoustic reflectivity, of three-dimensional microscopic objects. The brightness of a surface element of any object under observation depends not solely on the reflectivity. It is also affected by the tilt angle of the surface with respect to the axis of the microscope. Vector microscopy with synchronous observation of the phase and amplitude has been employed to determine the tilt from the image in phase contrast and correct the observed brightness in the image in amplitude contrast accordingly. Additionally three-dimensional scanning has been used to determine the maximum intensity obtained for confocal positioning of any surface element. The relevance of such schemes for truly quantitative measurements in biology is demonstrated, with results that have led to the ascertainment of phenotypic plasticity in daphnia (waterfleas) species.
Phase-sensitive acoustic microscopy (PSAM) is used for investigating bio-soft matter systems constituting the important biopolymer and biomaterial chitosan. Incipient micro-analytic ways for the determination of mechanical properties from the simultaneously obtained amplitude and phase images, allow the coeval estimation of the depth of structures and acoustic velocities, from which the density, stiffness and other elastic parameters may be derived. Chitosan is an important derivative from chitin the major component of the carapace (also examined here) of living species like Daphnia. The results obtained exemplify the unique power of PSAM for revealing essential features and information in biological soft matter.
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