Overcoming Challenges and Limitations Regarding the Atomic Force Microscopy Imaging and Mechanical Characterization of Nanofibers

IF 4 Q2 MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Fibers Pub Date : 2023-10-09 DOI:10.3390/fib11100083

Stylianos Vasileios Kontomaris, Andreas Stylianou, Georgios Chliveros, Anna Malamou

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a powerful tool that enables imaging and nanomechanical properties characterization of biological materials. Nanofibers are the structural units of many biological systems and their role in the development of advanced biomaterials is crucial. AFM methods have proven to be effective towards the characterization of fibers with respect to biological and bioengineering applications at the nanoscale. However, both the topographical and mechanical properties’ nanocharacterizations of single fibers using AFM are challenging procedures. In particular, regarding imaging procedures, significant artifacts may arise from tip convolution effects. The geometrical characteristics of the AFM tip and the nanofibers, and the fact that they have similar magnitudes, may lead to significant errors regarding the topographical imaging. In addition, the determination of the mechanical properties of nanofibers is also challenging due to their small dimensions and heterogeneity (i.e., the elastic half-space assumption is not valid in most cases). This review elucidates the origins of errors in characterizing individual nanofibers, while also providing strategies to address limitations in experimental procedures and data processing.

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克服纳米纤维原子力显微镜成像和力学表征的挑战和局限性

原子力显微镜(AFM)是一种功能强大的工具，可以实现生物材料的成像和纳米力学特性表征。纳米纤维是许多生物系统的结构单元，在先进生物材料的发展中起着至关重要的作用。AFM方法已被证明是有效的表征纤维在纳米尺度上的生物和生物工程应用。然而，利用原子力显微镜对单纤维的形貌和力学性能进行纳米表征是一项具有挑战性的工作。特别是在成像过程中，尖端卷积效应可能会产生明显的伪影。由于AFM针尖和纳米纤维的几何特性，以及它们具有相似的大小，这可能会导致形貌成像的显著误差。此外，由于纳米纤维的小尺寸和非均质性(即弹性半空间假设在大多数情况下不成立)，其力学性能的测定也具有挑战性。这篇综述阐明了表征单个纳米纤维错误的起源，同时也提供了解决实验程序和数据处理限制的策略。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Fibers Engineering-Civil and Structural Engineering

CiteScore

7.00

自引率

7.70%

发文量

审稿时长

11 weeks

期刊介绍： Fibers (ISSN 2079-6439) is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes original articles, critical reviews, research notes and short communications on the materials science and all other empirical and theoretical studies of fibers, providing a forum for integrating fiber research across many disciplines. Our aim is to encourage scientists to publish their experimental and theoretical results in as much detail as possible. There is no restriction on the length of the papers. The full experimental details must be provided so that the results can be reproduced. Electronic files or software regarding the full details of the calculation and experimental procedure, if unable to be published in a normal way, can be deposited as supplementary material. The following topics are relevant and within the scope of this journal: -textile fibers -natural fibers and biological microfibrils -metallic fibers -optic fibers -carbon fibers -silicon carbide fibers -fiberglass -mineral fibers -cellulose fibers -polymer fibers -microfibers, nanofibers and nanotubes -new processing methods for fibers -chemistry of fiber materials -physical properties of fibers -exposure to and toxicology of fibers -biokinetics of fibers -the diversity of fiber origins