Fluorescence microscopy, so well-established in biologically-inclined fields, has been under-utilized in the world of materials. Excellent and innovative results may be obtained using even relatively straightforward methods such as fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) and structured illumination microscopy (SIM), one of the simplest options for super-resolution imaging. By means of a proton-activatable fluorophore, both of these methods have been used to investigate water intercalation in epoxy-cellulose nanocomposite materials. SIM reveals the water's location in three dimensions, showing clearly near cellulose nanocrystals. The position and width of the fluorescence lifetime distributions from FLIM reveal the effects of water on the relaxation processes of the fluorophore, which can be related to material properties. Finally, the development of and results from a new instrument (4D-SIM) combining the super-resolving power of SIM with frequency-domain FLIM will be discussed as applied to this same experimental system.

Perfect unions: Multi-functional fluorescence microscopies and epoxy/nanocellulose composite materials

254th National Meeting (2017)

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