About:

Salicylic acid is a mono-hydroxybenzoic acid, with the formula C7H6O3. It is a colorless organic acid which is commonly used in organic synthesis and also functions as a plant hormone. Salicylic acid is most commonly known due to its use as one of the major ingredients in topical anti-acne products, and is also known for its ability to ease aches, pains and also reduce fevers.

How it was done:

Small amounts of Salicylic Acid were placed on a concave microscope slide. Since the acid has a relatively low melting point (~ 158.6 Degrees C) the slide was slowly passed across a bunsen burner in a fume cupboard to melt the Salicylic acid. Once the acid had melted it was left to solidify for some period of time.

The image was then captured using my normal polarized microscopy setup, which included;

• Nikon D5300 DSLR
• Radical RXL-4T Microscope
• Geology polarizing retrofit
• Trinamic stepper motor controller and stepper motor
• Helicon remote & focus
• Adobe Lightroom CC

Because the depth of field is relatively small, some images did require focus stacking which is where Helicon Remote & Focus came into the picture (pardon the pun).

Images: (Click to enlarge)