A Meurk | PubMed Health

PubMed2000

Tip friction - torsional spring constant determination.

A non-destructive technique is presented for verifying torsional spring constants used in lateral force microscopy. Various calibrations of the microscope are required and these are detailed. The technique produces reasonable values which tend to be larger than those predicted from considerations of the cantilever dimensions. The differences are discussed in terms of length corrections and particularly the uncertainty in the thickness of the cantilevers, which has an enormous effect on the values obtained through a priori calculations. Methods for inferring the thickness are discussed. Further, artefacts in conventional force measurements related to the experiments performed here are discussed.

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PubMed1998

Evaluation of Surface Ionization Parameters from AFM Data.

A new application of atomic force microscopy (AFM) for evaluation of surface ionization parameters on the basis of a charge-regulation model is demonstrated. Interactions between symmetrical silicon nitride and silica surfaces have been measured in aqueous electrolytic solutions at different pHs and separations from a few Debye lengths down to zero. The obtained experimental data are reported and interpreted on a quantitative level in the framework of Derjaguin's approximation; the computational procedure used for this purpose is outlined. Surface charge density, surface potential, and species concentrations are calculated as functions of pH and separation, unveiling the limits of applicability of classical constant-charge and constant-potential approximations. The integrity of the results on the charge properties of interacting surfaces is discussed in reference to electrokinetic and titration data, potential problems caused by the existence of non-DLVO forces and surface irregularities being highlighted. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.

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