Chapter 3 - Single molecule spectroscopy at interfaces

Abstract

Single molecule fluorescence spectroscopy is a useful tool to understand the spatiotemporal nanoscale heterogeneity that occurs at interfaces. A brief history of the development of single molecule spectroscopy at interfaces in the 1990s is presented. Then the different instrumentation and analysis used to understand the spatial organization, adsorption or turnover kinetics, and diffusion of molecules in two- and three-dimensions at interfaces are introduced. Example recent work from 2015 to 2018 of the use of single molecule spectroscopy to understand liquid/liquid interfaces important for biophysical cellular organization with and without membranes, solid/liquid interfaces modified with soft synthetic materials used for chromatographic separations, and solid/liquid interfaces used for heterogeneous catalysis are presented. Finally, an outlook on the possible directions the field can head by studying more complex interfacial materials and utilizing advances in instrumentation is discussed.