Robert Szoszkiewicz

Correlations between adhesion hysteresis and friction at molecular scales

Correlations between adhesion hysteresis and local friction are theoretically and experimentally investigated. The model is based on the classical theory of adhesional friction, contact mechanics, capillary hysteresis, and nanoscale roughness. Adhesion hysteresis was found to scale with friction through the scaling factor containing a varying ratio of adhesion energy over the reduced Youngs modulus. Capillary forces can offset the relationship between adhesion hysteresis and friction. Measurements on a wide range of engineering samples with varying adhesive and elastic properties confirm the model. Adhesion hysteresis is investigated under controlled, low humidity atmosphere via ultrasonic force microscopy. Friction is measured by the friction force microscopy.

Local wettability modification by thermochemical nanolithography with write-read-overwrite capability

The wettability of a thin polymer film was modified twice by thermochemical nanolithography. By means of a first local chemical modification induced by an atomic force microscope tip heated to 110±20°C, hydrophilic patterns are written over an originally hydrophobic polymer surface. By further heating to 190±20°C, a second chemical modification reverses the local wettability change introduced by the first chemical modification. This write-read-overwrite capability can be particularly useful in the design of complex nanofluidic devices.

Nanoscopic friction as a probe of local phase transitions

We study nanoscopic friction forces between an atomic force microscope tip and a glass sample. We show how and why it is possible to tune friction forces in a predictable way by changing either the sample temperature, or the humidity in the experimental chamber. We relate the friction behavior to confined water phase transitions. We find that the water gas-liquid phase diagram is the same at the macroscopic scale as at the nanoscopic tip-sample contact.

Probing local water contents of in vitro protein films by ultrasonic force microscopy

By means of ultrasonic force microscopy and lateral force microscopy we measure adhesion hysteresis and friction on protein films of bovine serum albumin and concanavalin A at local scales. Our investigations at different relative humidities (less than 5% and at 50% relative humidity) correspond to dehydrated and hydrated states of proteins. We demonstrate that a substantial increase of adhesion hysteresis with relative humidity is sensitive measure of protein–water binding capacity at local scales.

Complete noise analysis of a simple force spectroscopy AFM setup and its applications to study nanomechanics of mammalian Notch 1 protein.

We describe a complete noise analysis and application of a custom made AFM force spectroscopy setup on pulling a recombinant protein with an NRR domain of mouse Notch 1. Our table top AFM setup is affordable, has an open architecture, and is easily transferable to other laboratories. Its calculated noise characteristics are dominated by the Brownian noise with 2% non-Brownian components integrated over the first thermally induced resonance of a typical cantilever. For a typical SiN cantilever with a force constant of ~15 pN nm(-1) and in water the force sensitivity and resolution are less than 10 pN, and the corresponding deflection sensitivities are less than 100 pm Hz(-1/2). Also, we obtain a sub-ms time resolution in detecting the protein length change, and only few ms cantilever response times as measured in the force clamp mode on a well-known protein standard. Using this setup we investigate force-induced conformational transitions in the NRR region of a mouse Notch 1. Notch is an important protein related to leukemia and breast cancers in humans. We demonstrate that it is feasible to develop AFM-based studies of the force-induced conformational transitions in Notch. Our results match recent steered molecular dynamics simulations of the NRR unfolding and constitute a first step towards a detailed study of Notch activation with AFM.

Tribology and ultrasonic hysteresis at local scales

Reference LNNME-ARTICLE-2003-002doi:10.1016/S0169-4332(02)01479-4View record in Web of Science Record created on 2007-04-23, modified on 2016-08-08

Effect of substrate crystalline morphology on the adhesion of plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposited thin silicon oxide coatings on polyamide

The influence of the surface morphology of semicrystalline polyamide 12 (PA12) on the adhesion of thin silicon oxide coatings is analyzed by means of uniaxial fragmentation tests and scanning local-acceleration microscopy (SLAM). Two types of PA12 substrates are investigated, namely, as-received PA12, which contains large spherulites, and quenched PA12, which has a relatively smooth, homogeneous surface structure. The adhesion of the coating is found to be identical for the two types of PA12. This indicates that plasma deposition of the oxide leads to an equivalent functionalization of the two types of surfaces. Nonetheless, localized delamination is observed at spherulite boundaries, and is argued to result from strain concentrations in the corresponding soft zones, revealed by SLAM measurements.

Quantitative measure of nanoscale adhesion hysteresis by ultrasonic force microscopy

Adhesion hysteresis is the difference between the work used on separating two surfaces and the work gained on bringing them back together. Although much effort has been invested into adhesion hysteresis investigations at macroscales and microscales, its measurements at the nanolengths or even molecular lengths are still not easy. In this paper we demonstrate how to obtain quantitative measures of local adhesion hysteresis from ultrasonic force microscopy investigations. We derive analytical models fitting all the experimental cases and apply them to experimental data.

A method to measure nanomechanical properties of biological objects

We postulate that one will be able to quantitatively infer changes in the mechanical properties of proteins, cells, and other biological objects (BO) by measuring the shifts of several thermally excited resonance frequencies of atomic force microscopy cantilevers in contact with BOs. Here, we provide a method to extract spring constants and molecular damping factors of BOs in biologically relevant phosphate buffered saline medium and using compliant AFM cantilevers with a small aspect ratio (a ratio of length to width).

Adhesion hysteresis and friction at nanometer and micrometer lengths

Comparisons between adhesion hysteresis and friction at nanometer and micrometer length scales were investigated experimentally and theoretically. Nanoscale adhesion hysteresis was measured using the ultrasonic force microscopy (UFM) on mica, calcite, and a few metallic samples (Pt, Au, Cu, Zn, Ti, and Fe). Obtained adhesion hysteresis ranged between 4×10−19 and 4×10−18J. At the microscale a similar setup with a nanoindenter was used and the same samples were investigated. Adhesion hysteresis measured at the microscale ranged between 8×10−17 and 14×10−17J. Friction was investigated via lateral force microscopy, as well as by scratch tests done with the nanoindenter. Numerical simulations based on the UFM model as well as established theories of contact mechanics studied qualitative dependencies of adhesion hysteresis on experimental parameters. Quantitative relations between adhesion hysteresis and friction were obtained through an analytic model relying on elastic and adhesive properties of the contact. ...