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Title: Fundamental aspects of electric double layer force-distance measurements at liquid-solid interfaces using atomic force microscopy

Journal Article · · Scientific Reports
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/srep32389· OSTI ID:1338532
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [4];  [1];  [2];  [1]
  1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Science (CNMS)
  2. Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Wuhan (China). State Key Laboratory of Coal Combustion, School of Energy and Power Engineering
  3. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Chemical Sciences Division
  4. Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN (United States). Department of Chemical &Biomolecular Engineering and Multiscale Modeling and Simulation Center

In this paper, atomic force microscopy (AFM) force-distance measurements are used to investigate the layered ion structure of Ionic Liquids (ILs) at the mica surface. The effects of various tip properties on the measured force profiles are examined and reveal that the measured ion position is independent of tip properties, while the tip radius affects the forces required to break through the ion layers as well as the adhesion force. Force data is collected for different ILs and directly compared with interfacial ion density profiles predicted by molecular dynamics. Through this comparison it is concluded that AFM force measurements are sensitive to the position of the ion with the larger volume and mass, suggesting that ion selectivity in force-distance measurements are related to excluded volume effects and not to electrostatic or chemical interactions between ions and AFM tip. Finally, the comparison also revealed that at distances greater than 1 nm the system maintains overall electroneutrality between the AFM tip and sample, while at smaller distances other forces (e.g., van der waals interactions) dominate and electroneutrality is no longer maintained.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS); Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Fluid Interface Reactions, Structures and Transport Center (FIRST)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725; AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1338532
Journal Information:
Scientific Reports, Vol. 6; ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 48 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (7)

Friction of Ionic Liquid-Glycol Ether Mixtures at Titanium Interfaces: Negative Load Dependence journal May 2018
Computational Insights into Materials and Interfaces for Capacitive Energy Storage journal April 2017
Ionic liquid-mediated functionalization of graphene-based materials for versatile applications: a review journal December 2018
Insight into the Electrical Double Layer of an Ionic Liquid on Graphene journal June 2017
Structural and dynamic properties of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide/mica and graphite interfaces revealed by molecular dynamics simulation journal January 2018
Structure and dynamics of mica-confined films of [C 10 C 1 Pyrr][NTf 2 ] ionic liquid journal May 2018
Atomic Force Spectroscopy on Ionic Liquids journal May 2019

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