The effect of surface anisotropy in the slippery zone of Nepenthes alata pitchers on beetle attachment

• Elena V. Gorb and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 302–310, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.35

• effects on insect attachment and examine the contribution of surface topography, we prepared replicas of the de-waxed pitchers and tested them together with de-waxed plant samples in the second type of traction experiments. Replicas were obtained by applying the two-component dental wax (Coltène President

The role of the cantilever in Kelvin probe force microscopy measurements

• George Elias,
• Thilo Glatzel,
• Ernst Meyer,
• Alex Schwarzman,
• Amir Boag and
• Yossi Rosenwaks

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 252–260, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.29

• measure the surface topography, while the oscillations due to the electrostatic force (in amplitude modulated AM-KPFM at the second resonance or in frequency modulated FM-KPFM at several hundred Hz [16]) are nullified by adjusting Vdc(r). The first resonance oscillations have a strong effect on the

• discussed below. The effect of the first resonance In either the single or dual pass KPFM methods the cantilever oscillates at the frequency of its first resonance in order to measure the surface topography in the non-contact mode. In the previous sections the cantilever was considered rigid, meaning that

Moisture harvesting and water transport through specialized micro-structures on the integument of lizards

• Philipp Comanns,
• Christian Effertz,
• Florian Hischen,
• Konrad Staudt,
• Wolfgang Böhme and
• Werner Baumgartner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 204–214, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.24

• . We further tried to mimic the properties and effects of the natural integument by manufacturing replicas of the surface topography. We found that in fact this micro ornamentation yields a super-wettable (superhydrophilic) surface, and the semi-tubular capillaries allow for an efficient – and in the

Superhydrophobicity in perfection: the outstanding properties of the lotus leaf

• Hans J. Ensikat,
• Petra Ditsche-Kuru,
• Christoph Neinhuis and
• Wilhelm Barthlott

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 152–161, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.19

• as the surface topography, robustness and the unique properties of the epicuticular wax. The aim of this article is to integrate the relevant features of the lotus leaf, and to compare them with superhydrophobic leaves of other plant species in order to illustrate their significance. Results and

Capillary origami: superhydrophobic ribbon surfaces and liquid marbles

• Glen McHale,
• Michael I. Newton,
• Neil J. Shirtcliffe and
• Nicasio R. Geraldi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 145–151, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.18

• flexible solid possessing no curvature (or stretching) energy and, hence, a vanishing elastocapillary length. In the study of liquid marbles, the simplest assumption is that each grain is spherical in shape and has no particular surface topography. As a consequence all grains, irrespective of their surface

Manipulation of gold colloidal nanoparticles with atomic force microscopy in dynamic mode: influence of particle–substrate chemistry and morphology, and of operating conditions

• Samer Darwich,
• Karine Mougin,
• Akshata Rao,
• Enrico Gnecco,
• Shrisudersan Jayaraman and
• Hamidou Haidara

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 85–98, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.10

• the effect of functional (hydrophilic vs hydrophobic) molecules grafted on the Au nanoparticles on their mobility. In addition, we will address the important issue of environmental conditions (T, RH%), surface topography and tip scan velocities on the manipulation performance of gold nanoparticles

Single-pass Kelvin force microscopy and dC/dZ measurements in the intermittent contact: applications to polymer materials

• Sergei Magonov and
• John Alexander

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 15–27, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.2

• contact regime. In other words, imaging at the set-point amplitude (Asp) below its transition value will insure a profiling of surface topography, and at higher Asp the imaging will proceed in the non-contact mode when the probe experiences long-range forces such as electrostatic forces. This is

Defects in oxide surfaces studied by atomic force and scanning tunneling microscopy

• Thomas König,
• Georg H. Simon,
• Lars Heinke,
• Leonid Lichtenstein and
• Markus Heyde

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 1–14, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.1

• makes atomic resolution on conductors [7] as well as on insulators [8] possible. In addition to investigations on the surface topography, site specific spectroscopy measurements can be performed [8]. The whole setup is placed in a sound absorber cabin and is carried on a wooden frame, which, in turn, is

Tip-sample interactions on graphite studied using the wavelet transform

• Giovanna Malegori and
• Gabriele Ferrini

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2010, 1, 172–181, doi:10.3762/bjnano.1.21

• microscopy (NC-AFM) is a powerful tool to study not only the surface topography, but also the mechanical and chemical characteristics of the sample at the nanoscale [1][2][3]. The tip of an excited cantilever is sensitive to both forces and force gradients, when approaching the sample surface. The response

Precursor concentration and temperature controlled formation of polyvinyl alcohol-capped CdSe-quantum dots

• Chetan P. Shah,
• Madhabchandra Rath,
• Manmohan Kumar and
• Parma N. Bajaj

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2010, 1, 119–127, doi:10.3762/bjnano.1.14

• -section of Cd and Se, indicate the stoichiometry of the cadmium selenide quantum dots formed as 1:1, i.e., Cd1Se1. TEM and AFM studies Transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy are very important techniques for providing information about particle size, shape, surface topography, etc

Sensing surface PEGylation with microcantilevers

• Natalija Backmann,
• Natascha Kappeler,
• Thomas Braun,
• François Huber,
• Hans-Peter Lang,
• Christoph Gerber and
• Roderick Y. H. Lim

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2010, 1, 3–13, doi:10.3762/bjnano.1.2

• polymer brush are less likely obtained by the “grafting to” approach [42]. AFM images of the PEGylated Au surface taken under different solvent conditions reinforce the interpretation that a brush-like layer has formed. In PBS buffer (good solvent), we find that the surface topography is strongly

• surface structure (Figure 6). In contrast, the Au surface topography does not change regardless of the scanning force used in 20% 2-propanol (poor solvent). This is due to the collapsed conformation of tethered PEG chains that offers minimal resistance against the AFM tip. The influence of solvent quality