R. Garcia
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC),
Spain
Keywords: AFM, 3D-AFM, solid-liquid interfaces, nanomechanics, cell mechanobiology, bimodal, force-distance curves
Summary:
This contribution is focused on the challenges and the opportunities of atomic force microscopy to map at the molecular-scale the properties of solid-liquid interfaces and soft matter. The presentation is divided in three sections. The first section is devoted to introduce the capabilities of 3D-AFM to image with atomic-scale resolution the three-dimensional interfacial structure of surfaces immersed in electrolyte solutions [1-2]. The second section shows new developments in force volume and bimodal AFM to map the nanomechanical properties of several biological processes [3-4]. The third section discusses some fundamental issues involving the imaging and nanomechanical characterization of live cells with the AFM [5-6]. References [1] R. Garcia, Interfacial liquid water on graphite, graphene and 2D materials, ACS Nano 17, 5169 (2023). [2] D.M. Arvelo, J. Comer, J. Schmidt, R. Garcia. Interfacial Water Is Separated from a Hydrophobic Silica Surface by a Gap of 1.2 nm. ACS Nano 18, 18683–18692 (2024). [3] D.M. Arvelo and R. Garcia, ACS Electrochemistry 1, 1274-1279 (2025). [4] R. Garcia. Nanomechanical Mapping of Soft Materials with the Atomic Force Microscope: Methods, Theory and Applications. Chem. Soc. Rev. 49, 5850–5884 (2020). [5] C. Garcia-Sacristán, VG Gisbert, K Klein, A Šarić, R Garcia. In Operando Imaging Electrostatic- Driven Disassembly and Reassembly of Collagen Nanostructures. ACS Nano 18, 18485-18492 (2024). [6] V.G. Gisbert, F.M. Espinosa, J. Garcia-Sanchez, M.C. Serrano, R. Garcia, Small 2304884 (2024).