A 12th century 'Susannah and the Elders' medieval manuscript, the oldest item that Western has in their rare book collection, dating from around 1125 in Germany, may have been a rare case of a "palimpsest". SSW researchers wanted to look at this faint 90-degree text in higher detail.Read More
To help unravel the mysteries of microplastic pollution in aquatic systems, SSW researchers are working with Juan Li and UWO’s Environmental Engineering department.Read More
SSW Researchers wanted to test some novel samples inside the Large Chamber VP-SEM, so they imaged whole book! A 1909 copy of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure. SSW researchers hypothesized that they could use electrons to actually read the book within the SEM.Read More
SSW researchers are leveraging non-destructive methods, such as Micro-CT, to analyze and image sensitive electronics. Integrated circuit (IC) micro-electro mechanical system (MEMS) chips are tiny electronic mechanical sensors and actuators that solve a wide variety of modern problems. Their utilization is very popular and their use is expanding with time:...Read More
Carlos Munoz, Ph.D. a candidate in the chemical and biochemical engineering department (Western University), used our field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) to image his biofilm samples at low accelerating voltages (e.g., 1.5 keV). These low voltages allow very gentle imaging of the cells, and provides very surface sensitive analyses. The...Read More
SSW researchers are working with members of the Anthropology department (Andrew Nelson and Emy Roberge) to look at the internal structures of 500 year old sacrificial virgin mummy teeth. We examined thin-sections of two teeth from a cemetery associated with a female institution in Farfán on the North Coast of...Read More
With the in-chamber nano-indentor attachment, SSW staff along with engineer Konrad Mazurkiewicz, are squishing tiny micron sized pillars of metal inside of Dr. Moser’s (Earth Sciences) FE-SEM… live, while we watch! These are in-situ experiments that are actually occurring inside the SEM. Typically people just use the SEM to observe...Read More
Surface Science Western and Alyssa Moore (Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Western Ontario) are using Micro-CT to image and analyze the bones and cartilages of developing mouse skulls to better understand skull development in normal and disrupted conditions. Alyssa aims to compare normally developed mouse...Read More
Our work with Ariel Smith through Coastal Action has been highlighted in CBC’s As it Happens and CBC News article. Also see our microplastics page on the characterization of microplastics by FTIR spectroscopy: www.surfacesciencewestern.com/industrial-solutions/characterizationmicroplastics/”Read More
SSW recently installed a Zeiss Xradia 410 Versa Micro-CT and a Deben CT500 mechanical testing unit (soon to be upgraded to CT5000). With this instrument, SSW scientist Dr. Heng-Yong Nie has been collaborating with the research group of Professor Yu Liu at Jiangnan University to develop analytical approaches to understanding...Read More
