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Direct mapping of the solid–liquid adhesion energy with subnanometre resolution

Nature Nanotechnology volume 5, pages 401–405 (2010)Cite this article

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Abstract

Solid–liquid interfaces play a fundamental role in surface electrochemistry1, catalysis2, wetting3, self-assembly4 and biomolecular functions5. The interfacial energy determines many of the properties of such interfaces, including the arrangement of the liquid molecules at the surface of the solid. Diffraction techniques are often used to investigate the structure of solid–liquid interfaces6, but measurements of irregular or inhomogeneous interfaces remain challenging. Here, we report atomic- and molecular-resolution images of various organic and inorganic samples in liquids, obtained with a commercial atomic force microscope operated dynamically with small-amplitude modulation. This approach uses the structured liquid layers close to the solid to enhance lateral resolution. We propose a model to explain the mechanism dominating the image formation, and show that the energy dissipated during this process is related to the interfacial energy through a readily achievable calibration curve. Our topographic images and interfacial energy maps could provide insights into important interfaces.

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Figure 1: SAM-AFM imaging of the water–mica interface with atomic resolution.
Figure 2: High-resolution images of substrates in water and DMSO.
Figure 3: Histograms and scatter plots comparing measurement of WSL for various substrates.

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Acknowledgements

K.V. acknowledges support from the Swiss National Science Foundation. F.S. acknowledges the generous support of the Packard Foundation, and from the Department of Defence Defense Threat Reduction Agency (BRBAA08-L-2-0031). E.T. acknowledges support by Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) through Eurocore ‘Friction and Adhesion in Nanomechanical Systems’ (FANAS) project Atomic Friction (AFRI).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, 02139, Massachusetts, USA

    Kislon Voïtchovsky, Jeffrey J. Kuna & Francesco Stellacci

  2. Department of Physics and Institute of Nanoscience for Medicine, James Martin 21st Century School, Oxford University, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PU, UK

    Sonia Antoranz Contera

  3. International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Via Beirut 2-4, Trieste, Italy

    Erio Tosatti

  4. International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy

    Erio Tosatti

  5. CNR-Democritos National Simulation Laboratory, Trieste, Italy

    Erio Tosatti

  6. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland

    Francesco Stellacci

Authors
  1. Kislon Voïtchovsky
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  2. Jeffrey J. Kuna
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  3. Sonia Antoranz Contera
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  4. Erio Tosatti
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  5. Francesco Stellacci
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Contributions

K.V. and F.S. designed the experiment. Sample preparation, measurements and data analysis were carried out by K.V. (AFM) and J.K. (CA). The model was developed by K.V., with contributions from S.A.C., E.T., J.K. and F.S. K.V. and F.S. wrote the paper. All authors discussed and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Kislon Voïtchovsky.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Voïtchovsky, K., Kuna, J., Contera, S. et al. Direct mapping of the solid–liquid adhesion energy with subnanometre resolution. Nature Nanotech 5, 401–405 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2010.67

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