Development of a Precisely Temperature-Programmable Langmuir Trough for Measuring Properties of Insoluble Monolayers at the Water Surface as Functions of Temperature

Abstract

A new type of Langmuir trough was constructed in which temperature of the water surface is controlled precisely according to a program using a large number of Peltier elements and a microcomputer. We can suppress convection of the water in the trough during linear heating or linear cooling by planning the trough as thin as 2 mm. This trough is very suitable for measuring A-T isobars and π- T isochores of insoluble monolayers which are rarely measured precisely. The newly developed trough can permit observation of Brewster angle microscopic (BAM) images of insoluble monolayers clearly during measurements of A-T isobars by suppressing convection completely.