Determination of hydration film thickness using atomic force microscopy

Surface forces between particles control phenomenasuch as dispersion, agglomeration, coatings, adhesion,wetting, friction, and polishing, which play a crucial rolein materials processing. The importance of surface forcesis more appreciated especially in colloidal processing,while materials in a colloidal state are frequently preferredin industrial processing operations (e.g., printing inks,toners, paints, skin creams, blood substitutes, gels used asdrug-delivery systems, etc.) because their lar…     

Micro-friction of diazoresin/polyacrylic acid self-assembly films in water with atomic force microscopy

Ultrathin films composed of diazoresin（DR）and polyacrylic acid（PAA）were fabricated.The surface morphology of the films in water was measured using an atomic force microscopy（AFM）.The self-assembly technique makes the surface rather flat and uniform.The friction force and its dependence on the velocity differ from the surface charge of the thin films.The friction force of repulsive DR/PAA film increases linearly with velocity and has lower values than that of attractive DR film over the full range of velocity.As the velocity increases,the attractive friction of DR film first decreases to a minimum at a velocity of 2 line/s and then increases all the way.When the surface is repulsive to the friction substrate,the friction of thin films that is determined by hydrated lubrication of polymer chains that is ultralubricated;when it is adhesive to the friction substrate,the friction is mainly contributed from the elastic deformation of adsorbed polymer chains in the low velocity region and from viscous sliding in the presence of hydrated-layer lubrication of the polymer chains in the higher velocity region.     

Dynamic evolution of adhesion force between protein films studied by atomic force microscope

The approaching of two hydrophobic surfaces in water will lead to the combination of air bubbles adsorbed on the surfaces, thus additional long-range attraction is induced due to the bridging capillary force. Theoretical analysis shows that the process is a first-order phase transition, while no direct experiment supports the predication. The interaction between protein modified tip of atomic force microscope and protein film on mica was studied. The results demonstrate that the adhesion force between them increases to a stable value during the calibration process and the evolution clearly indicates the character of first-order transition.     

Elimination of bistability in constant-phase mode in atomic force microscopy

By presenting the phase properties of bistability in amplitude-modulation atomic force microscopy, we put forward a technique, the constant-phase mode, which may eliminate bistability. Using this approach, we keep the phase shift between driving and oscillation constant, slightly above -90°. In addition to the adjustment of the free amplitude, we add to amplitude-modulation atomic force microscopy another feedback so that the tip always oscillates in the high-amplitude state. A numerical simulation is carried out to demonstrate that the algorithm prevents bistability effectively.     

Atomic force microscopy observation on nuclear reassembly in a cell-free system

Cell-free system is interesting and useful for studying nuclear assembly in mitosis. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), which is a simple way for imaging fixed reassemble nuclei with high resolution, has not been used in the cell-free system. In this paper, we put forward an air-drying sample preparation for AFM. Using AFM, we observed nuclear reassembly process within 100 nm resolution in a cell-free system. As a result, we found that the images were artifact-free, and with higher resolution compared with fluorescent optical microscope images. Furthermore, the morphology of membrane vesicles was obtained dearly, and a dynamic change of morphology during the vesides‘‘ approaching to nuclear envelope was also observed, which is enlightened to understand the mechanism of nuclear envelope assembly.     

Study on the specific interaction between angiogenin and aptamer by atomic force microscopy （AFM）

The specific interaction between angiogenin and aptamer has been investigated by using AFM. The specificity of the interaction is revealed by comparing the binding probability of aptamer to other elements in a series of control experiments. The results have shown that there is specific interaction force between angiogenin and aptamer. Moreover, the single molecular pull-off force between angiogenin and aptamer has also been determined using the Poisson statistical method to be 133.7±11.7 pN. These findings obtained are helpful to the better revelation of recognition mechanism between angiogenin and aptamer, which provided basis for further understanding the inhibition of the aptamer to angiogenic activity.     

Transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy characterization of nickel deposition on bacterial cells

Recently bacterial cells have become attractive biological templates for the fabrication of metal nano- structures or nanomaterials due to their inherent small size, various standard geometrical shapes and abundant source. In this paper, nickel-coated bacterial cells (gram-negative bacteria of Escherichia coli) were fabricated via electroless chemical plating. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterization results reveal evident morphological difference between bacterial cells before and after deposition with nickel. The bare cells with smooth surface presented transverse outspreading effect at mica surface. Great changes took place in surface roughness for those bacterial cells after metallization. A large number of nickel nanoparticles were observed to be equably distributed at bacterial surface after activation and subsequent metallization. Furthermore, ultra thin section analytic results validated the presence and uniformity of thin nickel coating at bacte- rial surface after metallization.     

聚丙烯酸纳米微凝胶的表征

利用原子力显微镜（AFM）对聚丙烯酸纳米微凝胶的形态、结构进行了表征,单体浓度、交 联剂与单体摩尔比对聚丙烯酸微凝胶的粒径都有一定影响,在实验条件下均可得到粒径为20 ～60nm的微凝胶。加入夺氢型光引发剂BP-4进行二次聚合,可以得到大分子纳米凝胶引发剂,其粒径比一次聚合所得微凝胶增大10～20nm;二次聚合时加入N-异丙基丙烯酰胺（NIPAM）可得到50～90nm、表面包覆PNIPAM的纳米凝胶。     

An atomic force microscopy study of coal nanopore structure

Coal nanopore structure is an important factor in understanding the storage and migration of absorbed gas in coal. A new method for studying coal nanopore structures is proposed. This idea is based on the nano-level resolution of atomic force microscopy, which can be employed to observe the structural features of coal nanopores clearly, conduct quantitative three-dimensional measurements and obtain structural parameters. Analysis results show that coal nanopores are mainly metamorphic pores and intermolecul...     

戊二醛对原子力显微镜观测大肠杆菌的影晌

戊二醛作为生物材料的固定剂,在原子力显微镜（AFM）制样中已广泛使用．虽然已有用戊二醛观测大肠杆菌的文献报道,但到目前为止,关于戊二醛在AFM观测大肠杆菌中的作用还缺乏系统研究．首先分析AFM扫描图像的假像,进而探讨戊二醛的浓度和固定时间对AFM图像质量和大肠杆菌表面形貌的影响．结果表明,戊二醛的浓度和固定时间对AFM图像的清晰度、大肠杆菌的微观结构以及细胞的三维尺寸都有着重要影响．在相同固定条件下所扫描的AFM图像与扫描电子显微镜（SEM）图像对比发现,两者的形貌相似,而AFM图像比SEM图像分辨率更高,在定量分析上也更有优势．     

Design and implementation of precise position controller of active probe of atomic force microscopy for nanomanipulation

Efficiency and accuracy of AFM-based nanomanipulation are still major problems to be solved, due to the nonlinearities and uncertainties, such as drift, creep, hysteresis, etc. The deformation of cantilevers caused by manipulation force is also one of the most major factors of nonlinearities and uncertainties. It causes difficulties in precise control of the tip position and causes the tip to miss the position of the object. In order to solve this problem, the traditional approach is to use a rigid cantilever. However, this will significantly reduce the sensitivity of force sensing during manipulation, which is essential for achieving an efficient and reliable nanomanipulation. In this paper, a kind of active AFM probe has been used to solve this problem by directly controlling the cantilever＇s flexibility or rigidity during manipulation. Based on Euller-Bernoulli Model, a kind of controller of the active probe employing Periodic-Output-Feedback （POF） law is implemented. The results of simulation and experiments have demonstrated that this theoretical model and POF controller are suitable for precise position control of nanomanipulation.     

Atomic force microscopy in cell biology

The history, characteristic, operation modes and coupling techniques of atomic force microscopy （AFM） are introduced. Then the application in cell biology is reviewed in four aspects： cell immobilization methods, cell imaging, force spectrum study and cell manipulation. And the prospect of AFM application in cell biology is discussed.     

间歇模原子力显微镜扫描探针的受迫振动解

提出了一个间隙模原子力显微镜全动态工作的模型 ,用参数变换和模式展开方法 ,得到了具有粘滞阻尼和分段线性相互作用力的扫描探针的受迫弯曲振动微分方程的分析解 ,间歇模原子力显微镜扫描探针的受迫振动解 ,由接触模解和非接触模解交替工作而构成     

Numerical surface characterization of wear debris from artificial joints using atomic force microscopy

Study on surface features of wear particles generated in wear process provides an insight into the progress of material failure of artificial joints. It is very important to quantify the surface features of wear particles in three dimensions. In this study, a new approach using atomic force microscopy was proposed to carry out 3D numerical surface characterization of wear debris generated from artificial joints. Atomic force microscopy combined with image processing techniques was used to acquire appropriate 3D images of wear debris. Computerized image analysis techniques were then used to quantify surface texture features of wear debris such as surface roughness parameters and surface texture index. The method developed from the present study was found to be feasible to quantity the surface characterization of nanoand micro-sized wear debris generated from artificial joints.     

Application of atomic force microscopy to living samples from cells to fresh tissues

Atomic force microscopy is a novel method for imaging and characterization in biomedicine. However, high-resolution imaging of living samples from cells to tissues still remains a challenge. In this paper, two types of AFM working mode （contact mode and tapping mode） which are utilized for the imaging of living cells and tissues are discussed. A new magnetic tapping mode （MAC mode）, which is more suitable for living samples, and a novel data collecting system named TREC, are also introduced.     

The hybridization between peptide nucleic acid containing azobenzene and DNA labeled nanoparticle on chip surfaces studied by atomic force microscopy

Peptide nucleic acid containing azobenzene （N-PNA） was covalently bound on chip surfaces. Complementary DNA probes labeled by gold nanoparticles hybridizated with PNA on chip surfaces, The hybridization was successfully detected with AFM by the microscopy mothed. The influences of the position and the cis-trans isomerization of azobenzene unit on hybridization were investigated with AFM.