Surface Analysis

Moon rock crystals

surface analysis, in analytical chemistry, the study of that part of a solid that is in contact with a gas or a vacuum. When two phases of matter are in contact, they form an interface. The term surface is usually reserved for the interface between a solid and a gas or between a solid and a vacuum; the surface is considered to be that part of the solid that interacts with its environment. Other interfaces—those between two solids, two liquids, a solid and a liquid, or a liquid and a gas—are studied separately.

In surface chemistry the most important solids are of two types. The first is a nominally pure solid on which a surface layer has been produced by interaction with the layer’s environment. An example of this is kitchen aluminum foil, which is pure aluminum with a layer of oxides produced by interaction with oxygen in the air. The second is a solid on which a separate layer has been intentionally created. An example of such a solid is a heterogeneous catalyst, which is created when a layer of a reactive species is deposited on a solid support made of a different material.

For any nominally “pure” solid (with very few exceptions, such as extremely nonreactive alloys and gold), the atoms or molecules at the surface are different from those in the bulk. This difference arises from the reaction of the surface layer with the environment, and the depth to which this reaction extends differs from solid to solid. Therefore, how far into the solid what is considered the “surface” extends must be defined. Operationally, the surface is defined as that region of a solid that differs from the bulk. For solids consisting of a support and a deposited thin layer, the entire deposited layer and its bonding layer with the support can be thought of as the “surface.”

Consider some everyday surface phenomena that are largely taken for granted. Contact lenses are compatible with the eye because the lens material is surface treated. Cloth raincoats shed water and clothing is stain resistant because the cloth has been subjected to surface-modification reactions. Stainless steel does not corrode because the alloying process produces a noncorrosive surface layer. One can colour fibreglass fabric with dyes because the glass surface has been modified with an organic covering layer. Eggs will not stick to one side of a Teflon layer in a frying pan, but the other side of the layer is bonded to the metal. Why"composition" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/composition" data-type="MW">composition and to understand their efficacy? How can research be carried out to improve these materials? The answer is surface analysis.