Nanomechanical mapping of soft matter by bimodal force microscopy

•Review of bimodal AFM applications in soft matter.•Quantitative mapping of nanomechanical properties.•Examples on how to relate the observables with the Young modulus.•Three-dimensional images of protein–liquid interfaces.•Protein flexibility map of an isolated protein with a 2nm resolution. Bimoda...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European polymer journal 2013-08, Vol.49 (8), p.1897-1906
Main Authors: Garcia, Ricardo, Proksch, Roger
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Bimodal AFM
Biological and medical sciences
Biomolecules
Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science
rheology
Data points
Dynamic mechanical properties
Exact sciences and technology
Force microscopy
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Liquids
Mapping
Materials science
Materials testing
Mechanical properties
Microscopy
Miscellaneous
Molecular biophysics
Nanomechanics
Nanostructure
Organic polymers
Physico-chemical properties of biomolecules
Physicochemistry of polymers
Physics
Properties and characterization
Soft matter
Topography
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Summary:•Review of bimodal AFM applications in soft matter.•Quantitative mapping of nanomechanical properties.•Examples on how to relate the observables with the Young modulus.•Three-dimensional images of protein–liquid interfaces.•Protein flexibility map of an isolated protein with a 2nm resolution. Bimodal force microscopy is a dynamic force-based method with the capability of mapping simultaneously the topography and the nanomechanical properties of soft-matter surfaces and interfaces. The operating principle involves the excitation and detection of two cantilever eigenmodes. The method enables the simultaneous measurement of several material properties. A distinctive feature of bimodal force microscopy is the capability to obtain quantitative information with a minimum amount of data points. Furthermore, under some conditions the method facilitates the separation of the topography data from other mechanical and/or electromagnetic interactions carried by the cantilever response. Here we provide a succinct review of the principles and some applications of the method to map with nanoscale spatial resolution mechanical properties of polymers and biomolecules in air and liquid.
ISSN:0014-3057
1873-1945
DOI:10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2013.03.037