title: Polymer adhesion at the solid-liquid interface probed by a single-molecule force sensor.
abstract: A method based on atomic force microscopy is used to delineate the properties that determine single-molecule adhesion onto solid substrates in aqueous environment. Hydrophobicity as well as electrical properties of the substrate and the polymer are varied. In addition, the influence of the solvent composition, in particular the effect of ions, on the molecular adhesion at the solid-liquid interface is studied. Surprisingly, the polymer and surface-related properties account for only small changes in adhesion force, while dissolved ions show a much larger effect. These results point towards the energy of solvation as the most important contribution to adhesion for a wide variety of polymers and substrate materials.
authors.affiliation: IMETUM, Physics Department, CeNS and Center for Integrated Protein Science Munich, Technische Universität München, 85748 Garching, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Geisler
authors.forename: Bizan N
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Balzer
authors.forename: Thorsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hugel
mesh_terms: D000268:Adhesiveness; D000327:Adsorption; D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D008846:Micromanipulation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015336:Molecular Probe Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011073:Polyamines / Q000737:chemistry*; D047011:Silk / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties; D013718:Tensile Strength; D014159:Transducers
chemical_list: D011073:Polyamines; D047011:Silk; C063994:polyallylamine