Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Gwangmook Kim, Eoh Jin Kim, Hyung Wan Do, Min-Kyun Cho, Sungsoon Kim, Shinill Kang, Dohun Kim, Jinwoo Cheon, Wooyoung Shim
Summary: The authors developed a binary-state scanning probe microscopy technique using cantilever-free elastomeric probes and hierarchical measurement architecture, which enables high-resolution and high-throughput topography imaging. They successfully obtained 100 images over a 1-mm(2) area in less than 10 minutes using a 100-tip array.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yu Yang, Steffen Knust, Sabrina Schwiderek, Qin Qin, Qing Yun, Guido Grundmeier, Adrian Keller
Summary: This study investigated the impact of surface topography on protein adsorption, finding linear correlations between the adsorption characteristics of different proteins and surface statistical parameters on nanorough surfaces. However, the dependence on different parameters varied for different proteins. The results demonstrate the importance of fully understanding surface morphology in protein adsorption and possibly also cell adhesion studies.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Wujoon Cha, Matthew F. Campbell, Kathryn Hasz, Samuel M. Nicaise, Drew E. Lilley, Takaaki Sato, Robert W. Carpick, Igor Bargatin
Summary: The new cantilever probes with hollow cross-sections and alumina walls demonstrate lower spring constants and higher bandwidths compared to traditional solid counterparts, allowing for quicker response to topography changes while being more resistant to wear.
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Telmo O. Paiva, Albertus Viljoen, Yves F. Dufrene
Summary: Advancements in atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques and methodologies in microbiology have enhanced our understanding of microbial cell surfaces. Recent studies have shown that AFM imaging of cells and membranes at or near molecular resolution enables detailed visualization of membrane-drug interactions.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Nata F. S. de Bem, Michael G. Ruppert, Andrew J. Fleming, Yuen K. Yong
Summary: The article introduces an atomic force microscope cantilever with on-chip actuation and dual-sensing capabilities. A mathematical model is developed and validated, and a physical prototype is presented for calibration and validation. Experimental results demonstrate consistency with external measurements.
SENSORS AND ACTUATORS A-PHYSICAL
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Mechanical
Mohamed Najah, Farouk Maaboudallah, Mohamed Boucherit, Mark Ferguson, Luc Frechette, Serge Charlebois, Francois Boone, Serge Ecoffey
Summary: This paper introduces a robust approach for estimating the topography parameters of isotropic Gaussian rough micro-surfaces and evaluates the reliability of the method. The results show that the PSD-based approach reduces the dependence of topography parameters on sampling length and provides more accurate estimations compared to deterministic methods.
TRIBOLOGY INTERNATIONAL
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Marcel Hanke, Yu Yang, Yuxin Ji, Guido Grundmeier, Adrian Keller
Summary: The study highlights the significant impact of surface topography on protein and peptide aggregation, with the presence of nanopatterns leading to reduced fibrillization and increased amorphous aggregation. The results demonstrate that nanoscale surface topography can modulate peptide and protein aggregation pathways in complex ways.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Nahed Alarifi, Mahmoud A. Al-Gawati, Fahad Alnjiman, Hamad Albrithen, Abdullah N. Alodhayb
Summary: This study grew low atomic ordering Cu-Zn thin-film alloys on cosputtered Si substrates and evaluated their properties using X-ray diffraction, microelectromechanical system (MEMS), and spectroscopic ellipsometry. The results showed that the mechanical properties and electrical conductivity of the alloys were correlated with the elemental ratios and surface roughness, and can be quantitatively assessed using the extinction coefficient.
MATERIALS RESEARCH EXPRESS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Regis Badin, Claire Gaiani, Stephane Desobry, Sangeeta Prakash, Bhesh Bhandari, Jennifer Burgain
Summary: For the first time, environmental Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) was used to study surface properties of food powders in real time by changing relative humidity and temperature. The effects of glass transition and relative humidity on surface topography, roughness, and Young modulus distribution were investigated. Glass transition resulted in surface smoothing and decreased surface roughness. It also affected the particle physics, with glassy state particles being harder and having a heterogeneous Young modulus distribution. The results suggest that glass transition plays a significant role in particle surface properties and can be used to optimize food powder formulation and extend shelf-life.
FOOD HYDROCOLLOIDS
(2023)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Damien Hall
Summary: High speed atomic force microscopy (HS-AFM) is a powerful method for assessing biological processes involving macromolecules, especially when no direct labelling is required. However, when the feature to be studied moves during the measurement, the obtained image will be blurred. To optimize the experimental parameters and achieve higher scanning speeds, a software tool called HSAFM-MIREBA is developed for pre-experimental parameter optimization and simulation.
ANALYTICAL BIOCHEMISTRY
(2023)
Review
Food Science & Technology
Thao Minh Ho, Felix Abik, Kirsi S. Mikkonen
Summary: Nanoemulsion-based systems play a crucial role in protecting active ingredients in food industries. Visualizing interface morphology and measuring interfacial interaction forces of nanoemulsion droplets are essential for tailoring and designing intelligent nanoemulsion-based systems. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is becoming increasingly important for interface characterization, particularly in understanding the properties of nanoemulsion droplets.
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN FOOD SCIENCE AND NUTRITION
(2022)
Article
Biology
Allan Victor Ribeiro, Evelyn Giuliana Velasquez-Espedilla, Mirela Cesar de Barros, Leticia Lobo de Melo Simas, Flaviana Bombarda de Andrade
Summary: The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of surface topography of gutta-percha (GP) cones and plasticized disks of GP on the initial adhesion of Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis). The roughness and waviness of the GP cones were higher compared to the plasticized disks. After contamination, bacterial accumulation was greater in cones, but the surface and topography became more homogeneous and smoother, with no differences between disks and cones. Plasticization of GP is recommended to reduce surface irregularities and bacterial retention.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Vytautas Navikas, Samuel M. Leitao, Kristin S. Grussmayer, Adrien Descloux, Barney Drake, Klaus Yserentant, Philipp Werther, Dirk-Peter Herten, Richard Wombacher, Aleksandra Radenovic, Georg E. Fantner
Summary: The combination of scanning ion conductance microscopy (SICM) and live-cell super-resolution optical fluctuation imaging (SOFI) is introduced for non-invasive topographical imaging of soft biological samples, preserving high axial resolution. This method allows for the visualization of cellular structures in 3D with high resolution while maintaining the integrity of fragile membrane samples.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Yuyao Zhang, Xiaoying Zhu, Bokai Zhu, Chiheng Chu, Baoliang Chen
Summary: The hydrophobicity of nanomaterials plays a crucial role in various interfacial phenomena. However, it is challenging to study the high-resolution surface hydrophobicity at the nanoscale. In this study, a chemical force microscopy technique is used to profile in situ hydrophobicity images with nanoscale resolution, providing significant improvement compared to traditional methods. The method is applied to recognize the spatial fine structure hydrophobicity of different materials and reveals new findings regarding the hydrophobicity of graphene oxides (GO) and the influence of wrinkles/edges on hydrophobicity. Furthermore, the technique enables the observation of local oxidation variation during interfacial reactions.
Article
Materials Science, Characterization & Testing
Andrej Razumic, Lovro Turkalj, Amalija Horvatic Novak, Ivan Stojanovic, Biserka Runje
Summary: Protecting metal surfaces with organic coatings is a common method of corrosion protection. This research aims to investigate the effects of different coating applications and drying methods on the surface topography, as well as the influence of zinc-containing primers. Surface topography is examined using atomic force microscopy, and the differences in topography parameters before and after exposure to a corrosive environment are evaluated through accelerated laboratory tests.
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
J. G. Vilhena, Remy Pawlak, Philipp D'Astolfo, Xunshan Liu, Enrico Gnecco, Marcin Kisiel, Thilo Glatzel, Ruben Perez, Robert Haener, Silvio Decurtins, Alexis Baratoff, Giacomo Prampolini, Shi-Xia Liu, Ernst Meyer
Summary: A combination of low temperature atomic force microscopy and molecular dynamics simulations showed that soft designer molecules exhibit a sidewinding motion on a gold surface. The flexibility of these molecules allows for a lowered diffusion energy barrier and results in ultralow friction.
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
Kunal Soni, Rodrigo Antunes, Roland Steiner, Lucas Moser, Laurent Marot, Ernst Meyer
Summary: This experimental investigation focuses on the ion flux-energy distribution functions obtained across grounded grids in an asymmetric capacitively coupled RF source using a helium discharge. The study demonstrates that confining plasma with grids can significantly reduce ion flux and wall sputtering rates, making it important for fusion devices and plasma processing applications.
PLASMA SOURCES SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Khaled Mukaddam, Monika Astasov-Frauenhoffer, Elizaveta Fasler-Kan, Laurent Marot, Marcin Kisiel, Roland Steiner, Fabien Sanchez, Ernst Meyer, Joachim Koser, Michael M. Bornstein, Sebastian Kuhl
Summary: This study successfully developed a novel titanium-nanospike-based structuration technique for titanium surfaces. The nanospike surfaces exhibited antimicrobial effects against Porphyromonas gingivalis without affecting the viability of human gingival fibroblasts.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Zhao Liu, Antoine Hinaut, Stefan Peeters, Sebastian Scherb, Ernst Meyer, Maria Clelia Righi, Thilo Glatzel
Summary: The intercalation of graphene is an effective approach to modify the electronic properties of two-dimensional heterostructures. In this study, the growth and surface properties of ionic KBr layers altered by graphene were characterized. It was found that the introduction of graphene caused the disappearance of rippling of KBr islands on Ir(111) and a consistent change in both the work function and the frictional forces.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Sebastian Scherb, Antoine Hinaut, Xuelin Yao, Alicia Goetz, Samir H. Al-Hilfi, Xiao-Ye Wang, Yunbin Hu, Zijie Qiu, Yiming Song, Klaus Muellen, Thilo Glatzel, Akimitsu Narita, Ernst Meyer
Summary: In this study, solution-synthesized graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) were successfully deposited on surfaces maintained in ultrahigh vacuum using high-vacuum electrospray deposition (HVESD) method. Submolecular imaging combined with Raman spectroscopy was used to characterize individual GNRs and confirm their chemical integrity. Furthermore, GNRs were deposited on nonmetallic HOPG and SiO2 surfaces, as well as on a KBr(001) surface, allowing the study of GNRs on substrates not accessible by on-surface synthesis.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yujing Ma, Kazuma Sugawara, Yusuke Ishigaki, Kewei Sun, Takanori Suzuki, Shigeki Kawai
Summary: We successfully synthesized pyrrolopyrrole-bridged ladder oligomers from 11,11,12,12-tetrabromo-1,4,5,8-tetraaza-9,10-anthraquinodimethane molecules on Ag(111) using bond-resolved scanning tunneling microscopy. The non-dehydrogenative cyclization between pyrazine and ethynylene/cumulene groups has a low-activation barrier, forming dimeric oligomers containing dipyrazinopyrrolopyrrolopyrazine units and providing new insights into strain sensitivity in ladder-oligomer formation.
CHEMISTRY-A EUROPEAN JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Kewei Sun, Orlando J. Silveira, Yujing Ma, Yuri Hasegawa, Michio Matsumoto, Satoshi Kera, Ondrej Krejci, Adam S. Foster, Shigeki Kawai
Summary: Substituting carbon with silicon in organic molecules and materials is a challenging task, but in this study, the researchers successfully synthesized one- and two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks with atomically precise Si substitution. The structures were characterized using high-resolution scanning tunnelling microscopy and photoelectron spectroscopy, and it was found that each Si atom in a hexagonal C4Si2 ring was covalently linked to one terminal Br atom.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Xiushang Xu, Kewei Sun, Atsushi Ishikawa, Akimitsu Narita, Shigeki Kawai
Summary: Graphene nanoribbons and nanographenes synthesized on surfaces have great potential for studying magnetism in nano-spintronics. In this study, unprecedented 7-armchair GNRs with p-extended structures were synthesized and shown to exhibit Kondo resonances even on bare Au(111). The unique nonplanar termini formed by rearrangement reactions reduce the interaction with the Au(111) surface, allowing for spin localization and control of magnetism on metal substrates.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Zhao Liu, J. G. Vilhena, Ernst Meyer, Antoine Hinaut, Sebastian Scherb, Feng Luo, Junyan Zhang, Thilo Glatzel, Enrico Gnecco
Summary: Friction control and technological advancement are closely linked, and two-dimensional materials have unique characteristics for achieving quasi-frictionless contacts. Inspired by twistronics, we propose to use moire patterning to control superlubricity. Experimental and simulation results reveal a transition from superlubric to dissipative sliding regime in graphene moires on a Pt(111) surface at different twist angles, triggered by the normal force. This transition is caused by a novel mechanism at the superlattice level, where the moire tiles are manipulated in a highly dissipative shear process associated with the twist angle. The atomic-level details of this dissipation allow the bridging of different sliding regimes in a reversible manner, providing a subtle intrinsic control of superlubricity.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Takahiro Kojima, Karan Patel, Shunpei Nobusue, Ahmed Mahmoud, Cong Xie, Takahiro Nakae, Shigeki Kawai, Kazuhiro Fukami, Hiroshi Sakaguchi
Summary: The introduction of functional groups into polymers in an asymmetric manner has great potential for creating novel electronic and magnetic properties. By utilizing low halogen-contaminated metal surfaces, a vectorial on-surface synthetic technique was developed, which allows isotactic polymerization of compass precursors without the need for chiral catalysts. The resulting isotactic polymers exhibit polar 2D crystalline structures and offer new insights into stereoregular control and crystal engineering.
ADVANCED MATERIALS INTERFACES
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yiming Song, Ernst Meyer
Summary: In this Perspective, the recent advances in atomic friction of two-dimensional materials measured by friction force microscopy are presented. The main factors contributing to sliding friction between single asperity and a two-dimensional sheet are discussed, including material chemical identity, thickness, external load, sliding direction, velocity/temperature, and contact size. The latest progress of the more complex friction behavior of moire systems involving 2D layered materials is particularly focused on. The underlying mechanisms of these observed frictional characteristics during the sliding process are discussed through theoretical and computational studies, and a discussion and outlook on the perspective of this field are provided.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Chao Li, Christoph Kaspar, Ping Zhou, Jung-Ching Liu, Outhmane Chahib, Thilo Glatzel, Robert Haener, Ulrich Aschauer, Silvio Decurtins, Shi-Xia Liu, Michael Thoss, Ernst Meyer, Remy Pawlak
Summary: Electron-vibration coupling plays a critical role in the development of molecular electronics, spintronics, and quantum technologies. This study demonstrates the direct control of vibronic excitations in TBTAP molecules on the surface of Ag(111).
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Kewei Sun, Donglin Li, Takahito Kaihara, Satoshi Minakata, Youhei Takeda, Shigeki Kawai
Summary: In this study, nitrogen-doped nanographene and its dimer with an [18]annulene pore were synthesized through sequential reactions on the Ag(111) surface. The inner structure of the products was characterized using scanning tunneling microscopy, and the electronic states were investigated with scanning tunneling spectroscopy and theoretical calculations.
COMMUNICATIONS CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Kewei Sun, Kazuma Sugawara, Andrey Lyalin, Yusuke Ishigaki, Kohei Uosaki, Oscar Custance, Tetsuya Taketsugu, Takanori Suzuki, Shigeki Kawai
Summary: In this study, complex organometallic oligomers were systematically synthesized on Cu(111) through sequential ring opening and bonding of phenanthroline derivatives by multiple Cu atoms. Characterization using scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory calculations revealed the role of Cu adatoms in the chiral oligomers. Furthermore, the strength of the bonds against sliding friction was found to be sufficient.
