An atomic force microscope (AFM) operating in the lateral (frictional) force mode (LFM) was used to investigate the pH dependence of kinetic friction between a silicon nitride tip and an oxidized silicon surface under aqueous electrolyte solutions. It was found that, besides the known pH dependence of the normal force curves, the frictional force is highly sensitive to the pH value of the solution. A linear relationship between frictional force and adhesion hysteresis (i.e., the dissipated energy), as recently shown to be valid for some systems by Israelachvili et al., is supported. The implication is that many chemical species on surfaces can be readily differentiated using AFM-LFM by varying the pH value of the surrounding medium and that a possible nanochemical imaging method could be developed, based upon this principle.

Methylene blue adsorption from aqueous solution is widely used for the determination of the specific surface area of mica. In this procedure, knowledge of the space requirement for each ion-exchange-reacted methylene blue (MB) molecule is a prerequisite for a precise determination of the specific surface area. There is, however, some disagreement about the correct value due to the unknown orientation of the adsorbed MB molecules. In the present study the electronic structure and orientation of MB on muscovite mica is investigated with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and the synchrotron-based technique of near edge x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy. It was found that the MB molecules are tilted, with their largest face inclined at 65–70° with respect to the surface. This value disagrees with common a priori assumptions that MB lies flat on the surface, i.e., the specific surface area of mica is overestimated in many cases by a significant factor. The results, however, agree with a recent study proposing an apparent surface area of 66 Å2 for MB molecules on mica.

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