(497g) Coupling Ellipsometry and Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation Monitoring to Quantify Interfacial Changes

There are many surface sensitive techniques (such as AFM and SEM) which are routinely used to study nano-scale properties of interfaces. However, these techniques sometimes lack the ability to probe in-situ phenomena. And in biomaterial engineering, understanding how an engineered material will perform in-situ has relevance in understanding the performance of an interface. Recently we have coupled two analytical techniques that allow scientists to quantify changes at material interfaces. By coupling quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) and ellipsometry we are able to get in-situ information regarding how biological interfaces behave (by monitoring changes in thickness, mass and structural properties). In this discussion we will review analytically how we are making these measurements and recent experiments that have been performed studying biologically-relevant interfaces.