Capillary Forces during Liquid Nanodispensing

We present a comprehensive study of the capillary force measured during the liquid nanodispensing of attoliter droplets with an atomic force microscope tip. Due to the presence of a nanochannel drilled at the tip apex and connected to a reservoir droplet deposited on the cantilever, we observe a lar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Langmuir 2010-02, Vol.26 (3), p.1870-1878
Main Authors: Fabié, Laure, Durou, Hugo, Ondarçuhu, Thierry
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chemistry
Colloidal state and disperse state
Exact sciences and technology
General and physical chemistry
Interfaces: Adsorption, Reactions, Films, Forces
Surface physical chemistry
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Summary:We present a comprehensive study of the capillary force measured during the liquid nanodispensing of attoliter droplets with an atomic force microscope tip. Due to the presence of a nanochannel drilled at the tip apex and connected to a reservoir droplet deposited on the cantilever, we observe a large variety of force curves during the deposition process. We propose a numerical method which accounts for most of the experimental observations. In particular, we clearly demonstrate the influence of the nanochannel diameter. This study leads to a better understanding of the mechanisms of liquid transfer from the tip to the surface and also provides a real time monitoring of the dispensing. Besides these applications, the method we use, which can handle a large variety of conditions and also complex geometries, may find a wide range of applications.
ISSN:0743-7463
1520-5827
DOI:10.1021/la902614s