Fluid viscosity determination by means of uncalibrated atomic force microscopy cantilevers

In this letter it has been proved that the vibrating resonance frequency of an atomic force microscope cantilever is strictly characterized by its thickness (α), while its width/thickness ratio (β) appears to be a less sensitive parameter that can be approximated to a constant. We therefore propose a data analysis method that, by accounting for a constant β, allows for the determination of the value of α and consequently to calculate η. This method of monitoring viscosity has the advantage of requiring short measurement times on very small sample volumes, thereby avoiding laborious, time-consuming cantilever calibration.

[1]  D A Weitz,et al.  Microrheology of entangled F-actin solutions. , 2003, Physical review letters.

[2]  John E. Sader,et al.  Experimental validation of theoretical models for the frequency response of atomic force microscope cantilever beams immersed in fluids , 2000 .

[3]  J. Sader.  Frequency response of cantilever beams immersed in viscous fluids with applications to the atomic force microscope , 1998 .

[4]  Thomas Thundat,et al.  RESONANCE RESPONSE OF SCANNING FORCE MICROSCOPY CANTILEVERS , 1994 .

[5]  J. Sader,et al.  Rheological measurements using microcantilevers , 2002 .

[6]  Liviu Nicu,et al.  Viscosity measurements based on experimental investigations of composite cantilever beam eigenfrequencies in viscous media , 2000 .

[7]  K. Jandt,et al.  Toothbrush Abrasion of Surface Softened Enamel Studied with Tapping Mode AFM and AFM Nanoindentation , 2004, Caries Research.

[8]  R. Overney,et al.  Atomic Force Microscopy Calibration Methods for Lateral Force, Elasticity, and Viscosity , 1998 .

[9]  M. Papi,et al.  Simultaneous static and dynamic light scattering approach to the characterization of the different fibrin gel structures occurring by changing chloride concentration , 2005 .

[10]  A. Maali,et al.  Hydrodynamics of oscillating atomic force microscopy cantilevers in viscous fluids , 2005 .

[11]  David J. Pine,et al.  Rapidly recovering hydrogel scaffolds from self-assembling diblock copolypeptide amphiphiles , 2002, Nature.

[12]  Thomas Thundat,et al.  Viscous drag measurements utilizing microfabricated cantilevers , 1996 .

[13]  Lionel Presmanes,et al.  Measurement of Young's modulus of nanocrystalline ferrites with spinel structures by atomic force acoustic microscopy , 2000 .

[14]  A. Neville,et al.  A comparison of the corrosion behavior of WC-Co-Cr and WC-Co HVOF thermally sprayed coatings by in situ atomic force microscopy (AFM) , 2002 .

[15]  Nabil Ahmed,et al.  Measurement of solution viscosity by atomic force microscopy , 2001 .

[16]  J. Sader,et al.  Calibration of rectangular atomic force microscope cantilevers , 1999 .