PNNL

Abstract

Surfaces and interfaces of many types play a critical role in modern technologies associated with electronics, chemical and petroleum processing, energy conversion and storage, as well as medicine and health. The role of surfaces and interfaces in various forms is endemic to nanotechnologies of any type since interfaces between materials and biological systems impact medical technology, environmental quality, the formation of aerosols, carbon and nitrogen cycling and climate change. As the features being analyzed decrease in size, the distinction between bulk analysis of small objects and surface analysis disappears and any tool that can provide compositional (or structural) information on the desired spatial scale will be useful