Friction force measurements on potential controlled graphite in an electrolytic environment

Abstract

We show the simultaneous recording of normal and lateral forces arising in scanning force and friction microscopy on a potential controlled sample immersed in aqueous electrolyte. As a liquid film is present on virtually all solid surfaces under ambient conditions, it is important to control the properties of the solidfliquid interface. In order to obtain reliable information on the friction behaviour of such a surface, a set-up for potentiostatic control of the sample was established. Experiments have been carried out with a stand-alone scanning force and friction microscope (SFFM), combined with an electrochemical cell providing potential control of the sample. First results of simultaneous normal and friction force measurements, obtained on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) immersed in NaCIO,, demonstrate the promising potential of the method.

Observation of controlled, electrochemically induced friction force modulations in the nano-Newton range

“…This surprising finding is in good agreement with the results given in ref. [4] for a comparable potential. The effect is explained with a superposition of a "geometric" and a "chemical" component of the lateral force.…”

“…For studying this question under conditions close to reality, friction microscopy has been combined with a setup allowing for potentiostatic control of the sample. We reported earlier [4] on a feasibility study of the method using the scanning force and friction microscope of Hipp et al [5], applying a constant potential to the sample during the measurement.…”

Surface Characterization and Interfacial Adhesion in MEMS Devices

“…STMs, AFMs, and their modifications can be used at extreme magnifications ranging from 10 -3 to 10 -9 × in x-, y-, and z-directions for imaging macro-to atomic dimensions with high-resolution information and for spectroscopy (Bushan, 1999). These instruments can be used in any sample environment such as ambient air (Binnig & Smith, 1986), various gases (Burnham et al, 1990), liquid (Marti et al, 1987;Binggeli et al, 1993), vacuum (Binnig et al, 1982), low temperatures (Hug et al, 1993), and high temperatures. To decrease the wear of brittle tip and extend its application in biological research, the carbon nanotube (CNT) has been used to probe the sample instead by adhered it on top of a tip (Fang et al, 2008) in AFM.…”

The Interaction between Graphene and Oxygen Atom

“…via reduction, is an important carbon nanomaterial in the graphene family [11][12][13][14]. Because GO is rich for oxygencontaining groups in the structure, and the ratio of sp 2 to sp 3 hybridized carbon atoms is easy to control, GO possesses brilliant performance in electronics, optics, energy conversion, environmental science, and biotechnology.…”