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Investigating Single Molecule Adhesion by Atomic Force Spectroscopy
Published on: February 27, 2015
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Scaling from single molecule to macroscopic adhesion at polymer/metal interfaces
Thomas Utzig1, Sangeetha Raman, Markus Valtiner
1Department of Interface Chemistry and Surface Engineering, Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH , Max-Planck Straße 1, 40237 Düsseldorf, Germany.
Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids
|February 11, 2015
Summary
Predicting macroscopic adhesion from single molecular interactions is now possible. This study links single-molecule force spectroscopy and surface forces apparatus experiments to accurately forecast adhesive properties for advanced materials.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Surface Chemistry
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Designing robust polymer/metal interfaces is vital for industrial and biomedical applications.
- Understanding the link between molecular interactions and macroscopic adhesion is key.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate how macroscopic adhesion can be predicted from fundamental single molecular interactions.
- To validate Jarzynski's equality for polymer/metal interactions.
- To establish a new strategy for predicting adhesive properties of novel materials.
Main Methods:
- Dynamic single-molecule force spectroscopy (SM-AFM) to analyze amine/gold junctions.
- Jarzynski's equality to calculate equilibrium energy differences from nonequilibrium measurements.
- Surface forces apparatus (SFA) experiments to measure macroscopic adhesion forces.
Main Results:
- Macroscopic adhesion forces measured by SFA closely matched calculations using Jarzynski's equality and SM-AFM data.
- An amine/gold interaction energy of (36 ± 1)k(B)T was determined via SFA.
- A consistent interaction free energy of (35 ± 3)k(B)T was calculated using SM-AFM and Jarzynski's equality.
Conclusions:
- Jarzynski's equality is validated for polymer/metal interaction studies.
- Single-molecule interactions can reliably predict macroscopic adhesion.
- This provides a novel approach for developing advanced adhesives and coatings.
