Pershan P.S., Schlossman M. Liquid Surfaces and Interfaces: Synchrotron X-ray Methods

Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2012. – 334 p. – ISBN10: 0521814014The availability of synchrotron x-ray sources and the subsequent developments described in this book have led to substantial progress in our understanding of molecular ordering at liquid interfaces. This practical guide enables graduate students and researchers working in physics, chemistry, biology and materials science to understand and carry out experimental investigations into the basic physical and chemical properties of liquid surfaces and interfaces. The book examines the surfaces of bulk liquids, thin wetting films and buried liquid-liquid interfaces. It discusses experiments on simple and complex fluids, including pure water and organic liquids, liquid crystals, liquid metals, electrified liquid-liquid interfaces and interfacial monolayers of amphiphiles, nanoparticles, polymers and biomolecules. A detailed description of the apparatus and techniques required for these experiments is provided, and theoretical approaches to data analysis are described, including approximate methods such as the Master formula, the Born approximation, Parratt's algorithm and the Distorted Wave Approximation.The intrinsic liquid/vapor interface
Surface-induced order
Capillary waves on the liquid surface
Thin liquid films
Buried interfaces
Optical methods
X-ray surface methods
Further reading
Instrumentation
Liquid-surface reflectometers
Kinematics of scattering from liquid surfaces and interfaces
Overview of the first type of liquid-surface scattering instrument
Detailed full alignment
Overview of the second type of liquid-surface scattering instrument
Detectors
Absorber calibration
Non-synchrotron-based liquid-surface reflectometers
Theory of X-ray scattering from liquid surfaces
Overview of the theory
Reflection from an idealized flat surface: the Fresnel reflectivity
Reflection from less idealized surfaces
The Born approximation
Examples of applications for flat surfaces
The effect of thermal roughness
The distorted-wave approximation (DWA)
Scattering from a thick film
Effects of X-ray coherence and macroscopic surface inhomogeneities on specular reflectivity
X-ray photon-correlation spectroscopy
Experiments on liquid surfaces and interfaces
Liquid/vapor interfaces without observable structure
Surfaces exhibiting structure
Interfaces between thin macroscopic liquid films and a bulk liquid
Deeply buried liquid/liquid interfaces
Time-dependent surface fluctuations