Diffusion Stir Cell w microbeads
Mike and I tried to pass 3 um beads mixed with rhodamine through the stir cell to prove that, if the membrane we intact, only the rhodamine would pass through and not the beads. As seen in the pictures below, only the rhodamine passed through, not the nanoparticles, since these particles are 100x larger than the pores in the membrane.
Rhodamine + 3um particles in DIC mode
Rhodamine + 3um particles in RHOD mode
H2O in DIC mode
H2O in RHOD mode
Note the rhodamine in the water sample. No nanoparticles are present in the sample, in DIC mode, compared to the rhodamine solution image.
After disassembly of the stir cell, the membrane appeared intact before use and shredded after use. It is clear that the membrane broke after disassembly and not during use. The wafer used for this experiment was 302 position -1,-5.
awesome!