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A Simple, Low-cost, and Robust System to Measure the Volume of Hydrogen Evolved by Chemical Reactions with Aqueous Solutions
Published on: August 17, 2016
Quantitative measurement of short-range chemical bonding forces
M A Lantz1, H J Hug, R Hoffmann
1Institute of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland. mark.lantz@unibas.ch
Abstract:
We report direct force measurements of the formation of a chemical bond. The experiments were performed using a low-temperature atomic force microscope, a silicon tip, and a silicon (111) 7x7 surface. The measured site-dependent attractive short-range force, which attains a maximum value of 2.1 nanonewtons, is in good agreement with first-principles calculations of an incipient covalent bond in an analogous model system. The resolution was sufficient to distinguish differences in the interaction potential between inequivalent adatoms, demonstrating the ability of atomic force microscopy to provide quantitative, atomic-scale information on surface chemical reactivity.
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