In situ characterization of nanoscale contaminations adsorbed in air using atomic force microscopy

• Jesús S. Lacasa,
• Lisa Almonte and
• Jaime Colchero

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2925–2935, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.271

• to access the state of contamination of real surfaces under ambient conditions using advanced atomic force microscopy techniques. Keywords: atomic force microscopy; cantilever; contact potential; electrostatic forces; force spectroscopy; Hamaker constant; Kelvin probe microscopy; surface

Intrinsic ultrasmall nanoscale silicon turns n-/p-type with SiO₂/Si₃N₄-coating

• Dirk König,
• Daniel Hiller,
• Noël Wilck,
• Birger Berghoff,
• Merlin Müller,
• Sangeeta Thakur,
• Giovanni Di Santo,
• Luca Petaccia,
• Joachim Mayer,
• Sean Smith and
• Joachim Knoch

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2255–2264, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.210

• (ρMO = 1 × 10−3 states/a03 = 6.76 states/nm3), (e) frontier-OMOs dominantly located in the NH2-terminated NWire section (ρMO = 3 × 10−3 states/a03 = 20.3 states/nm3). A slight distortion of atomic positions occurs at the OH-terminated end due to electrostatic forces, leading to a minor location of MOs

A scanning probe microscopy study of nanostructured TiO₂/poly(3-hexylthiophene) hybrid heterojunctions for photovoltaic applications

• Laurie Letertre,
• Roland Roche,
• Olivier Douhéret,
• Hailu G. Kassa,
• Denis Mariolle,
• Nicolas Chevalier,
• Łukasz Borowik,
• Philippe Dumas,
• Benjamin Grévin,
• Roberto Lazzaroni and
• Philippe Leclère

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2087–2096, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.197

• electrostatic forces between the tip and the sample, due to the excess positive charges present in the P3HT layer, i.e., the bond dipole. Upon illumination, it is expected that P3HT-COOH absorbs the incident photons, thus creating excitons. The length of the P3HT-COOH chains being sufficiently small

• compensated in the KPFM measurement to nullify the tip–sample electrostatic forces. This compensation is denoted ΔVlight in Figure 4, and the Vcpd value upon illumination, Vcpd light, is now expressed as: This provides the following expression for the photovoltage: ΔVlight is a positive quantity because the

Recent highlights in nanoscale and mesoscale friction

• Andrea Vanossi,
• Dirk Dietzel,
• Andre Schirmeisen,
• Ernst Meyer,
• Rémy Pawlak,
• Thilo Glatzel,
• Marcin Kisiel,
• Shigeki Kawai and
• Nicola Manini

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1995–2014, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.190

• the bond-length and bond-angle variations of the porphyrin leg while sliding. Controlling friction and wear by the application of mechanical oscillations and electrostatic forces One way to control friction is to apply an AC voltage between the probing tip and surface [179]. In this experiment, an

Biomimetic and biodegradable cellulose acetate scaffolds loaded with dexamethasone for bone implants

• Aikaterini-Rafailia Tsiapla,
• Varvara Karagkiozaki,
• Veroniki Bakola,
• Foteini Pappa,
• Panagiota Gkertsiou,
• Eleni Pavlidou and
• Stergios Logothetidis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1986–1994, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.189

• a substrate through electrostatic forces. The solution mentioned above was placed in a glass syringe with a metal needle and high voltage was applied between the needle and the collector. The high voltage produces an electrically charged jet of polymer solution, which dries and thus a polymer fiber

Multimodal noncontact atomic force microscopy and Kelvin probe force microscopy investigations of organolead tribromide perovskite single crystals

• Yann Almadori,
• David Moerman,
• Jaume Llacer Martinez,
• Philippe Leclère and
• Benjamin Grévin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1695–1704, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.161

• -induced SP and lattice changes. Lastly, the tip–sample height measured in dynamic AFM is prone to be affected by variations of the electrostatic forces, which in turn, vary as a function of the illumination state of the photovoltaic sample. Thus, for accurate photostrictive measurements, it is highly

• desirable to nullify (or a least minimize) the electrostatic forces by using an active KPFM compensation potential loop. In this work, the photovoltaic and optomechanical properties of a methylammonium lead tribromide (CH3NH3PbBr3, also referred to as MAPbBr3) single crystal are investigated by noncontact

Electrostatically actuated encased cantilevers

• Benoit X. E. Desbiolles,
• Gabriela Furlan,
• Adam M. Schwartzberg,
• Paul D. Ashby and
• Dominik Ziegler

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1381–1389, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.130

• implementation remains difficult because alignment of an electrode is generally cumbersome and electrostatic forces frequently convoluted with the tip–sample interaction where changes in capacitance gradient due to topographical features influence cantilever excitation. An optically transparent electrode [20] or

• applied to the built-in drive electrode. The electrical potential difference U between drive electrode and cantilever results in an attractive electrostatic force Fel = (1/2)C′U2, where C′ is the capacitance gradient. The tip–sample interactions remain unaltered by electrostatic forces of the integrated

Artifacts in time-resolved Kelvin probe force microscopy

• Sascha Sadewasser,
• Nicoleta Nicoara and
• Santiago D. Solares

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1272–1281, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.119

• pulses, the resulting time-dependent electrostatic forces are very complex and result in intricate mixing of frequencies that may, in some cases, have a component at the detection frequency, leading to falsified KPFM measurements. Additionally, we performed fast Fourier transform (FFT) analyses that

• nanometer scale [2]. The imaging mechanism relies on the compensation of electrostatic forces by application of a bias voltage that corresponds to the local contact potential difference (CPD), the relative difference between the work function of the tip and that of the sample area below the tip. In most

• sample) to compensate the electrostatic forces between tip and sample, where the time constant of the KPFM controller is typically in the range of milliseconds. However, especially in semiconductors, and in view of points (ii) and (iii), the charge dynamics are of high interest in materials and device

Surface characterization of nanoparticles using near-field light scattering

• Eunsoo Yoo,
• Yizhong Liu,
• Chukwuazam A. Nwasike,
• Sebastian R. Freeman,
• Brian C. DiPaolo,
• Bernardo Cordovez and
• Amber L. Doiron

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1228–1238, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.114

• C as, where A is a positive constant that depends on the electrostatic forces on the ions and B is the Jones–Dole coefficient, which is an empirical constant correlating ion–solvent interactions. In Equation 9, the solution viscosity η increases proportionally as the solute concentration C increases

Electrostatic force spectroscopy revealing the degree of reduction of individual graphene oxide sheets

• Yue Shen,
• Ying Wang,
• Yuan Zhou,
• Chunxi Hai,
• Jun Hu and
• Yi Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1146–1155, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.106

• ]. This correspondingly results in a negative (or positive) phase shift of the cantilever, as labelled with red (or blue) in the Figure 3b. The case of repulsive electrostatic forces (in the parentheses) usually occurs when the sample itself is charged [21]. However, in the experiments here, electrostatic

• forces between the biased tip and the induced charges on sample surface are only attractive. Thus, in EFM imaging (Figure 3a,c–d), the electrostatic attraction causes a phase shift of the cantilever, leading to a dark color in the contrast (marked with red in Figure 3b). In the EFS experiments, the probe

Review on nanoparticles and nanostructured materials: history, sources, toxicity and regulations

• Jaison Jeevanandam,
• Ahmed Barhoum,
• Yen S. Chan,
• Alain Dufresne and
• Michael K. Danquah

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1050–1074, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.98

• attachment systems began 300 years ago and continues today. Electrostatic forces, sticking fluids, and microsuckers are the proposed reasons that explain the insect’s attachment mechanism [229]. Some of these theories have been rejected based on experimental data and combination of secretion-mediated

Tuning adhesion forces between functionalized gold colloidal nanoparticles and silicon AFM tips: role of ligands and capillary forces

• Sven Oras,
• Sergei Vlassov,
• Marta Berholts,
• Rünno Lõhmus and
• Karine Mougin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 660–670, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.61

• , electrostatic forces, H-bonding and capillary forces are crucial to understand the dependence of adhesive force on the type of functional layer. First, the high adhesion values of –SH and –NH2 coated NPs are explainable by the high polarizability of the molecules. Hence, adhesion forces acting between

Periodic structures on liquid-phase smectic A, nematic and isotropic free surfaces

• Anna N. Bagdinova,
• Evgeny I. Demikhov,
• Nataliya G. Borisenko,
• Sergei M. Tolokonnikov,
• Gennadii V. Mishakov and
• Andrei V. Sharkov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 342–352, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.34

• liquid surface [16][17][18][19][20]. In the article [16], a case was considered where periodic stripe structures occur on the charged liquid helium surface as a result of competition between electrostatic forces and surface tension. Qualitatively, our problem is similar to this case and can be described

The nanofluidic confinement apparatus: studying confinement-dependent nanoparticle behavior and diffusion

• Stefan Fringes,
• Felix Holzner and
• Armin W. Knoll

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 301–310, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.30

• have been performed using static surfaces and fixed geometries, which do not allow the degree of confinement to be varied in situ. Recently it was demonstrated that the gap-distance-dependent electrostatic forces can be exploited to achieve geometry-induced trapping and manipulation of charged

Review: Electrostatically actuated nanobeam-based nanoelectromechanical switches – materials solutions and operational conditions

• Liga Jasulaneca,
• Jelena Kosmaca,
• Raimonds Meija,
• Jana Andzane and
• Donats Erts

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 271–300, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.29

• thousand times larger than forces that are proportional to volume, making inertial forces negligible. At the nanoscale, van der Waals, capillary and electrostatic forces become the governing factors. It is important to note, that with the decrease of the size scale, breakdown of the predictions of

Anchoring of a dye precursor on NiO(001) studied by non-contact atomic force microscopy

• Sara Freund,
• Antoine Hinaut,
• Nathalie Marinakis,
• Edwin C. Constable,
• Ernst Meyer,
• Catherine E. Housecroft and
• Thilo Glatzel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 242–249, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.26

• recorded by Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) [68]. The CPD arises from the work function difference between the tip and the substrate and is altered by surface charges or dipoles. The voltage needed to compensate for the electrostatic forces due to this potential difference is measured in KPFM. The CPD

Combined scanning probe electronic and thermal characterization of an indium arsenide nanowire

• Tino Wagner,
• Fabian Menges,
• Heike Riel,
• Bernd Gotsmann and
• Andreas Stemmer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 129–136, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.15

• -range electrostatic forces between the cantilever and sample structures, force-gradient sensitive detection is required [7][19]. In our setup, this is assured by direct demodulation of the sidebands that appear upon electrical modulation of the tip–sample electrostatic force [20]. Figure 2b shows the

Interface conditions of roughness-induced superoleophilic and superoleophobic surfaces immersed in hexadecane and ethylene glycol

• Yifan Li,
• Yunlu Pan and
• Xuezeng Zhao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2504–2514, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.250

• colloidal AFM tip. Then the probe was driven towards the surface immersed in liquid at a certain driving velocity. By analyzing the force exerted on the probe, which mainly includes hydrodynamic forces, electrostatic forces, van der Waals force and Stokes force, the boundary slip can be calculated [12][18

A comparative study of the nanoscale and macroscale tribological attributes of alumina and stainless steel surfaces immersed in aqueous suspensions of positively or negatively charged nanodiamonds

• Colin K. Curtis,
• Antonin Marek,
• Alex I. Smirnov and
• Jacqueline Krim

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2045–2059, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.205

• electrostatic forces? As will be reported, beneficial tribological behaviors were observed for immersion of stainless steel or alumina samples in −ND suspensions, while either neutral (alumina) or detrimental (stainless steel) behaviors were observed for immersion in +ND suspensions. This yields an exceptional

• study employed an aqueous dispersion of positively charged NDs, the silica surface is expected to be charged negatively at normal pH (IEP = 3.9, [50]) providing the same short-range electrostatic forces responsible for the ND surface self-assembly. The EIP of SS304 surfaces, however, is somewhat acidic

• deposits on stainless steel and/or alumina surfaces that are both readily replenished by the surrounding suspensions and also glide through it with a relatively low resistance to shear, potentially because of the repulsive electrostatic forces between the individual particles. In summary, this study

Characterization of ferrite nanoparticles for preparation of biocomposites

• Urszula Klekotka,
• Magdalena Rogowska,
• Dariusz Satuła and
• Beata Kalska-Szostko

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1257–1265, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.127

• set of particles. In particular, noncovalent interactions are the most important in terms of biological aspects [5]. A drawback of applying magnetic nanoparticles is that they possess a strong tendency to agglomerate due to not only van der Waals or electrostatic forces but also magnetic interactions

Analysis and modification of defective surface aggregates on PCDTBT:PCBM solar cell blends using combined Kelvin probe, conductive and bimodal atomic force microscopy

• Hanaul Noh,
• Alfredo J. Diaz and
• Santiago D. Solares

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 579–589, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.62

• tip and feature material. Although the source of the attractive forces is not well understood, it could be attributed to either electrostatic forces due to localized charges in the features or to electrophoresis of the material due to the electric field gradient. In Figure 3, a set of first- and last

Modelling of ‘sub-atomic’ contrast resulting from back-bonding on Si(111)-7×7

• Adam Sweetman,
• Samuel P. Jarvis and
• Mohammad A. Rashid

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 937–945, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.85

• model also incorporate the effect of electrostatics via introduction of the Hartree potential, which has been shown to have important consequences for the imaging of certain classes of molecules [15]. In our simulations the effect of the Hartree potential is not included, primarily as electrostatic

• forces are not expected to result in significant differences in contrast due to the small variation in electrostatic force over the different atoms of the Si(111)-7×7 unit cell [16]. In the simulations the probe particle is subject to forces from three sources: 1) a L-J-like interaction due to the tip

Nanoscale effects in the characterization of viscoelastic materials with atomic force microscopy: coupling of a quasi-three-dimensional standard linear solid model with in-plane surface interactions

• Santiago D. Solares

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 554–571, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.49

• [19]. Frequently, but not always, relatively large molecules are involved and their cohesive energy is governed by dispersion (van der Waals) and electrostatic forces, which are generally weaker than those generated by stretched covalent bonds or electrostatic interactions in ionic crystals, and which

Surface coating affects behavior of metallic nanoparticles in a biological environment

• Darija Domazet Jurašin,
• Marija Ćurlin,
• Ivona Capjak,
• Tea Crnković,
• Marija Lovrić,
• Michal Babič,
• Daniel Horák,
• Ivana Vinković Vrček and
• Srećko Gajović

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 246–262, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.23

• provided an enhanced electrostatic repulsion against the agglomeration of metallic NPs in DMEM. The BSA has negative charges above its isoelectric point (pH 4.78) [59] and the electrostatic forces dominate over hydrophobic interactions. Accordingly, the attractive forces between the positively charged

Large area scanning probe microscope in ultra-high vacuum demonstrated for electrostatic force measurements on high-voltage devices

• Urs Gysin,
• Thilo Glatzel,
• Thomas Schmölzer,
• Adolf Schöner,
• Sergey Reshanov,
• Holger Bartolf and
• Ernst Meyer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2485–2497, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.258

• materials), separated (e.g., electrostatic forces from magnetic forces), or be dynamically compensated (e.g., by tuning the bias voltage in Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM)) and measured together with the topological information. For all these properties various experimental approaches have been

• detection of electrostatic forces and the determination of local work function values was intensively discussed and models combining large scale influences with atomistic simulations have been developed [1][2][3][4]. As early as in the late 1980s H. Wickramasinghe proposed several SPM based methods for the

• VCPD to nullify the electrostatic force acting between them [9][36]. A very sensitive way to measure, separate, and compensate the electrostatic forces is the so-called amplitude modulated KPFM (AM-KPFM) which uses the second eigenmode of the cantilever [17][37]. By applying an ac voltage Vac to the