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C Patrick Collier

Publications and source records attributed to C Patrick Collier.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Mechanisms of single-walled carbon nanotube probe-sample multistability in tapping mode AFM imaging.

When using single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) probes to create AFM images of SWNT samples in tapping mode, elastic deformations of the probe and sample result in a decrease in the apparent width of the sample. Here we show that there are two major mechanisms for this effect, smooth gliding and snapping, and compare their dynamics to the case when a conventional silicon tip is used to image a bare silicon surface. Using atomistic and continuum simulations, we analyze in detail the shape of the tip-sample interaction potential for three model cases and show that in the absence of adhesion and friction forces, more than two discrete, physically meaningful solutions of the oscillation amplitude are possible when snapping occurs (in contrast to the existence of one attractive and one repulsive solution for conventional silicon AFM tips). We present experimental results indicating that a continuum of amplitude solutions is possible when using SWNT tips and explain this phenomenon with dynamic simulations that explicitly include tip-sample adhesion and friction forces. We also provide simulation results of SWNT tips imaging Si(111)-CH3 surface step edges and Au nanocrystals, which indicate that SWNT probe multistability may be a general phenomenon, not limited to SWNT samples.

Gold↗
PubMed2005

Noncovalent functionalization of single-walled carbon nanotubes with water-soluble porphyrins.

We have employed water-soluble porphyrin molecules [meso-(tetrakis-4-sulfonatophenyl) porphine dihydrochloride] to solubilize single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), resulting in aqueous solutions that are stable for several weeks. The porphyrin-nanotube complexes have been characterized with absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy and with AFM. We find that the porphyrin/SWNT interaction is selective for the free base form, and that this interaction stabilizes the free base against protonation to the diacid. Under mildly acidic conditions nanotube-mediated J-aggregates form, which are unstable in solution and result in precipitation of the nanotubes over the course of a few days. Porphyrin-coated SWNTs can be precisely aligned on hydrophilic poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) surfaces by combing SWNT solution along a desired direction and then transferred to silicon substrates by stamping. Parallel SWNT patterns have been fabricated in this manner.

Letter↗
PubMed2003

Dip-pen nanolithography of reactive alkoxysilanes on glass.

The use of organofunctional silane chemistry is a flexible and general method for immobilizing biomolecules on silicon oxide surfaces, including fabricating DNA, small-molecule, and protein microarrays. The biggest hurdle in employing dip-pen nanolithography (DPN) for extending this general approach to the nanoscopic domain is the tendency of trialkoxy- and trichlorosilanes to rapidly polymerize due to hydrolysis reactions. The control of the local water concentration between the substrate surface and the scanning AFM tip is critical, both to the physical and chemical processes involved in DPN writing and to the ability to form well-defined thin layers of reactive silanes without extensive polymerization induced disorder. We found that we could control the degree of polymerization through careful choice of the alkoxysilane used as the "ink" for DPN and through control of the relative humidity during inking and writing with the coated AFM tip. As a proof-of-principle, we demonstrate that areas patterned with an alkoxysilane on glass with DPN are functional for subsequent immobilization of fluorescently labeled streptavidin via covalent attachment of biotin. This preliminary result sets the stage for the ability to capture proteins in their fully hydrated state from buffered solution, by molecular recognition onto previously written reactive nanoscopic regions on oxidized silicon and glass.

DNA↗