The Next Generation of Colloidal Probes : A Universal Approach for Soft and Ultra‐Small Particles

Titelangaben

Mark, Andreas ; Helfricht, Nicolas ; Rauh, Astrid ; Karg, Matthias ; Papastavrou, Georg:
The Next Generation of Colloidal Probes : A Universal Approach for Soft and Ultra‐Small Particles.
In: Small. Bd. 15 (2019) Heft 43 . - 1902976.
ISSN 1613-6829
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.201902976

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Abstract

The colloidal probe technique, which is based on the atomic force micro-scope, revolutionizes direct force measurements in many fields, such as interface science or biomechanics. It allows, for the first time, interaction forces on the single particle or cell level to be determined. However, for many applications, important “blind spots” remain, namely, the possibility to probe interaction potentials for nanoparticles or complex colloids with a soft outer shell. Definitely, these are colloidal systems that are currently of major industrial importance and interest from theory. The here-presented novel approach allows the aforementioned limitations to be overcome. Its applica-bility is demonstrated for 300 nm sized carboxylate-modified latex particles as well as sub-micron core–shell particles with a soft poly-N-isopropylacrylamide hydrogel shell and a rigid silica core. For the latter, which until now could not be studied by the colloidal probe technique, the temperature dependency of electrosteric and adhesion forces is determined on the single particle level.