Application Snapshot - Advantages For Using Atomic Force Microscopes For Nanoparticle Characterization
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Directly visualize nanoparticles
All that is required for measuring nanoparticles with an AFM is that they are adhered to a surface. No coating is required.
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Differentiate between particles that are < 5nm
With an AFM you can measure particle size distributions when particles are < 5 nm diameter.
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Visualize nanoparticle geometry
The shapes of nanoparticles including spheres, cubes and triangles can be directly visualized with an AFM.
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Measure nanoparticle size distribution
Measuring the height of nanoparticles results in a direct measure of nanoparticle size distribution.
Example Images
Height image of cobalt nanoparticles, 3 and 5 nm. 1.8µm image.
Height image of 15nm gold nanoparticles.
Phase image of gold nanotriangles; Gold triangular-shaped nanoparticles, features on nanotriangle surface show micelles.
Height image of mixed small and large polystyrene nanoparticles.
Technical
Keywords
In the AFM instrument, a sharp probe is scanned over a surface. The motion of the probe is captured by a computer, an the line profiles are used to create a surface topogram.
On an AFM if the probe is similar in size to the nanoparticles, the size of the particle will appear larger in the XY axis. Regardless, the height of the nanoparticles will be accurate and it is possible to get nanoparticle size distributions for all sizes of nanoparticles.
