Natural materials at a micro or nanoscopic scale captivate us with their repetition and geometric forms. These forms are not only fascinating to look at, but they also significantly influence the integrity of large-scale structures. Civil engineer Alain Conrado-Palafox from Western University has been utilizing these natural microscopic forms to...Read More
At SSW, we sometimes make important discoveries from unexpected things. Many students come to us with reference images from publications, but when we examine their samples, we see something that is completely different. That’s what happened to UofT engineer Goutham Rangarajan. Goutham’s images show the unexpected shapes and forms of...Read More
Over the past several years, Dr. Marshall Yang has dedicated countless hours to training on and utilizing the advanced instrumentation and expertise available at Surface Science Western (SSW). During his tenure at SSW, Marshall used our field emission and tungsten filament scanning electron microscopy (FESEM / SEM), confocal laser scanning...Read More
Cathode-Ray Tube TVs and computer monitors utilize a special electromagnetic phenomenon known as cathodoluminescence (CL) to produce visible light on a fluorescent screen. This technology’s use in modern computers and TVs has been gradually phased out in favour of LED technology, but interestingly this phenomenon has been utilized as a...Read More
Various foods can act as an accelerator of corrosion in everyday cookware, leading to degradation of the cookware and the release of metal ions into the food. Toxicological studies have revealed that increased doses of metals, such as nickel and chromium, can cause adverse reactions in those whom consume the...Read More
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
Marshall Yang and fellow student Jackson (Jinbao) Huang, two Ph.D. graduates from the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering (CBE) at Western University, would like to share their collaborative experiences at Surface Science Western (SSW). Marshall and Jackson were the lead researchers on a multi-year project studying the behaviours and...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 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
