Structural effects recorded for AFM tips interacting with individual nanoparticles and their clusters deposited on substrates

Mica and alumina were coated with nanoparticles using aqueous suspensions while managing attractive substrate-particle electrostatic forces. Using nanoparticle-coated substrates, structural forces were measured for 10 nm silica particles deposited on the alumina substrate and 5-80 nm alumina particles on mica using an atomic force microscopy technique. For nanoparticles forming clusters, oscillation of structural forces was recorded with a periodicity that is close to the size of nanoparticles used. Positioning the AFM tip over the single particles allowed, on the other hand, the study of probe-nanoparticle colloidal forces.