Surface Forces

At LSST, we are very well equipped, in terms of state-of-the-art surface forces apparatus. The laboratory was constructed and much of the new developments performed by external page Prof. Manfred Heuberger, now at the Empa St Gallen. Our extended surface forces apparatus (eSFA) has a number of unique improvements over traditional devices, which enable more precise measurements, long-term measurements, dynamic measurements, and imaging. Applications of our instruments have often been in the general area of tribology, and in particular on lubrication mechanisms of glycoproteins, tribological properties of ionic liquids, and the influence of viscosity on the lubricious properties of polymer brushes. In addition, we have examined the effect of confinement on crystal growth.