BAllen Spring 2018

Brandon C. Allen Chemistry Research 430

Spring 2018

Junior Chemistry Major

Research Times

Tuesday 1:30-6 PM And any other free time including weekends.

CHEM 430-02 = 0.50 credit = 8 hours per week.

Proposed Research Project

General Information

Advisors: Dr. Audra Sostarecz and Dr. Brad Sturgeon

Other research student collaborators: N/A

Other Research Collaborators: N/A

Proposed Project Description (PPD)

This semester, I will be making the construction of my Brewster Angle Microscope (BAM) better by adding additional optical components, including a higher powered laser, a polarizer mount to maintain position and orientation between the CCD camera sensor and the microscope objective to ensure that only p-polarized light reaches the sensor, and possibly another microscope objective with different magnification/focal length. Additionally, I will be continuing development of LabVIEW software to use the BAM. I plan to write software that automates the image acquisition/processing procedure to allow the user two focus on their data. Additionally, I will be working on software that will use the CCD sensor as a light detector to obtain a histogram distribution for each pixel for analysis of intensity of light reflected from the region of interest. This measured intensity can be related to the reflectivity, which can then be utilized to determine various characteristics of the film, including thickness, surface density, refractive index, exact Brewster Angle, and in some cases molecular orientation. Programmatically extracting this data would make it possible to perform Quantitative Brewster Angle Microscopy, which would improve the quality and understanding of most research done by students in the Trough lab. Depending on the quality/accuracy of the data, this homemade BAM could be comparable (somewhat) to a professionally manufactured research-grade instrument. Once the design of the BAM is finished, I would like to collect more data and images of DPPC, Cholesterol, and DPPC/Cholesterol films which have been used for all trials with the BAM so far. Additionally, if I run out of things to do this semester, I would like to use a pattern recognition algorithm to identify the presence of domains in the images obtained, as well as different order phase transitions. I will also add an algorithm to my data processing programs to automate the calculation of the limiting molecular area.

Instruments to be used

• Kibron Langmuir Trough
• LEGO Brewster Angle Microscope
• Prusa MK2S/i3 3D Printer
• Full Spectrum Laser Engraver
• Various Virtual Instruments (hehe, LabVIEW joke)

References (2 minimum)

"Applications of Brewster Angle Microscopy to Adsorbed Species at the Air/Water Interface"

"A LEGO Mindstorms Brewster Angle Microscope"

Research pledge

I, Brandon Allen, have read the Chem/Bioc 430 course syllabus and understand the general structure and expectations of the research program. The above material was prepared after consultation, and in conjunction with my research advisor.