engleski

Nanoscale Characterisation on Functional Materials: Force Spectroscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy Beyond Imaging

Materials and devices at the nanoscale hold vast promise for innovation in virtually every industry and public endeavor including health, electronics, transportation, the environment and national security. The atomic force microscope (AFM) belongs to the broad family of scanning probe microscopes in which a proximal probe is exploited for investigating properties of surfaces with subnanometer resolution. AFM has been found to provide useful information on the multitude of its applications in fundamental and applied research (biology, chemistry and biophysics). The possibilities of spectroscopic analysis, surface modification and molecular manipulation gave rise to a real breakthrough in the realm of AFM use. The use of mild imaging conditions opened the way to dynamic studies in which conformation changes and molecular interactions could be followed in real time at single-molecule level. AFM is widely viewed as the most significant technological frontier currently being employed in material science. In these cases AFM is an excellent technique to characterise morphology of obtained films, including the possibility of resolving defects on the manometer scale. Not only structural properties can be investigated, but also mechanical or chemical and functional properties are the focus of many AFM applications. The possibility of resolving phase separation, distinguishing areas with different mechanical or surface charge properties and identifying the presence of different phases is related to the high vertical resolution of AFM in a liquid environments. Also, broad application of AFM stems from its ability to follow biogeochemical processes13 in environment on various interfaces by monitoring the surface morphology through the surface images acquired at nanoresolution

atomic force microscopy ; characterisation ; materials

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