Interfacial force measurements using atomic force microscopy

Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) can not only image the topography of surfaces at atomic resolution, but can also measure accurately the different interaction forces, like repulsive, adhesive and lateral existing between an AFM tip and the sample surface. Based on AFM, various extended techniques have been developed such as colloidal probe AFM,...

Mimicking an Atomically Thin "Vacuum Spacer" to Measure the Hamaker Constant between Graphene Oxide and Silica

The Hamaker constant between graphene oxide and silica, which quantifies the strength of van der Waals forces is determined, by mimicking a “vacuum spacer” in an atomic force microscopyforce study. It is demonstrated that, a 2D spacer is expected to yield an accurately defined separation, owing to the high atom density and strength in planar...