Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 8, 2025

Atomic Force Microscopy Cantilever-Based Nanoindentation: Mechanical Property Measurements at the Nanoscale in Air and Fluid
Published on: December 2, 2022
Nanoscale-roughness influence on pull-off adhesion force in liquid and air
R BakhshandehSeraji1, G Palasantzas1
1Department of Physics, Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
The pull-off adhesion force was measured by atomic force microscopy in sphere-plate geometry in water where a capillarylike behavior develops due to nanobubbles and was compared to the corresponding capillary adhesion in air. The sphere and the plate were coated with gold, and the pull-off adhesion force was measured as a function of the evolving surface roughness of the plate, and the retraction velocity of the interacting surfaces. In absolute magnitude, the pull-off force in air is larger than that in liquid by an order of magnitude or more, but in both cases, the pull-off force follows a monotonic decrease with increasing roughness. However, the relative decrement of the adhesion force in water was approximately 300%, and significantly higher than that in air for the same change of the rms roughness in the range ∼7-14 nm. Finally, the adhesion force in water shows a relatively complex dependence on the retraction velocity of the interacting surfaces as the roughness increases due to possible deformation of the nanobubbles and the bridges they form between the surfaces.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Surface Tension, Capillary Action, and Viscosity
The various IMFs between identical molecules of a substance are examples of cohesive forces. The molecules within a liquid are surrounded by other molecules and are attracted equally in all directions by the cohesive forces within the liquid. However, the molecules on the surface of a liquid are attracted only by about one-half as many molecules. Because of the unbalanced molecular attractions on the surface molecules, liquids contract to form a shape that minimizes the number...
Frictional Force
Surface Tension of Fluid
Surface tension varies...
Contact Angle
The adhesive force is the molecular force between molecules of different materials, that is, between the molecules of the solid and the liquid. The cohesive...
Adhesion
Capillary action is a result of water’s adhesive tendencies. When a narrow...

