Novel parallel plate condenser for single particle electrostatic force measurements in atomic force microscope
Type
ArticleKAUST Department
Physical Science and Engineering (PSE) DivisionDate
2011-07Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/561813
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
A combination of small parallel plate condenser with Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) glass slides as electrodes and an atomic force microscope (AFM) is used to characterize the electrostatic behavior of single glass bead microparticles (105-150 μm) glued to the AFM cantilever. This novel setup allows measurements of the electrostatic forces acting on a particle in an applied electrical field to be performed in ambient air conditions. By varying the position of the microparticle between the electrodes and the strength of the applied electric field, the relative contributions of the particle net charge, induced and image charges were investigated. When the microparticle is positioned in the middle of the electrodes, the force acting on the microparticle was linear with the applied electric field and proportional to the microparticle net charge. At distances close to the bottom electrode, the force follows a parabolic relationship with the applied electric field reflecting the contributions of induced and image charges. The method can be used for the rapid evaluation of the charging and polarizability properties of the microparticle as well as an alternative to the conventional Faraday's pail technique. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.Citation
Kwek, J. W., Vakarelski, I. U., Ng, W. K., Heng, J. Y. Y., & Tan, R. B. H. (2011). Novel parallel plate condenser for single particle electrostatic force measurements in atomic force microscope. Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 385(1-3), 206–212. doi:10.1016/j.colsurfa.2011.06.008Sponsors
The project was supported by the Science and Engineering Research Council of A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research) in Singapore.Publisher
Elsevier BVae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1016/j.colsurfa.2011.06.008