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The effect of relative humidity (RH) on the interactions of AFM tips and colloidal probes with hydrophilic silica substrates is investigated. Both friction and adhesion are studied. For the case of a colloidal probe the interaction is characteristic of a multiasperity contact, the adhesion increased with increasing RH and above a certain threshold relative humidity a large increase in adhesion was measured. This behaviour is explained in terms of a recent model where the Kelvin radius of the condensate becomes larger than some characteristic roughness on the surface. The interaction between the tip and the substrate also exhibited an increase in adhesion above a threshold RH although the increase was much less marked than with the colloid probe. The friction decreased with increasing humidity for both tip and colloid probe although the friction force was much less sensitive than adhesion to changes in RH. Stick-slip behaviour was observed between tip and substrate for all humidities at high loads, but only at the lowest RH (about 5%) it was observed at all loads. At higher humidity the behaviour became increasingly continuum on the experimental timescale, presumably due to viscous contributions from the water. Stick-slip was not observed for the colloidal probe friction measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A protocol for measuring the interaction, deformation and adhesion of soft polymeric substrates with the atomic force microscope (AFM) is described. The technique obtains the photodiode response of the AFM (constant compliance factor) by independent calibration against the rigid substrate adjacent to the deformable particle or patchy film. The zero of separation is taken as the end-point of the jump into contact. A method is given for correcting the velocity dependence of the piezodrive expansion factor, the neglect of which will cause artefacts in dynamic viscoelastic measurements. It is emphasised that conventional force curve analysis, which uses the apparently linear large force region for calibration, will generate erroneous results for deformable substrates. Results are obtained for cellulose particles and for polystyrene films, and their Young's moduli are found to be 22 MPa and 100 MPa, respectively. The latter is about a factor of 30 less than for bulk polystyrene, which indicates that the polystyrene surface is in a less glassy state than the bulk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stiffness has been found to regulate hydrogel performances and applications. However, the key interfacial properties of hydrogels, like friction and adhesion are not controlled by the stiffness, but are altered by the structure and composition of hydrogels, like polymer volume fraction and crosslinking degree. Colloidal probe atomic force microscopy has been use to investigate the relationship between tribological properties (friction and adhesion) and composition of hydrogels with similar stiffness, but different polymer volume fractions and crosslinking degrees. The interfacial normal and lateral (friction) forces of hydrogels are not directly correlated to the stiffness, but altered by the hydrogel structure and composition. For normal force measurements, the adhesion increases with polymer volume fraction but decreases with crosslinking degree. For lateral force measurements, friction increases with polymer volume fraction, but decreases with crosslinking degree. In the low normal force regime, friction is mainly adhesion-controlled and increases significantly with the adhesion and polymer volume fraction. In the high normal force regime, friction is predominantly load-controlled and shows slow increase with normal force. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tablets are the most convenient form for drug administration. However, despite the ease of manufacturing problems such as powder adhesion occur during the production process. This study presents surface and structural characterization of tablets formulated with commonly used excipients (microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), lactose, mannitol, magnesium (Mg) stearate) pressed under different compaction conditions. Tablet surface analyses were performed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), profilometry and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The mechanical properties of the tablets were evaluated with a tablet hardness test. Local adhesion detected by AFM decreased when Mg stearate was present in the formulation. Moreover, the tablet strength of plastically deformable excipients such as MCC was significantly decreased after addition of Mg stearate. Combined these facts indicate that Mg stearate affects the particle–particle bonding and thus elastic recovery. The MCC excipient also displayed the highest hardness which is characteristic for a highly cohesive material. This is discussed in the view of the relatively high adhesion found between MCC and a hydrophilic probe at the nanoscale using AFM. In contrast, the tablet strength of brittle materials like lactose and mannitol is unaffected by Mg stearate. Thus fracture occurs within the excipient particles and not at particle boundaries, creating new surfaces not previously exposed to Mg stearate. Such uncoated surfaces may well promote adhesive interactions with tools during manufacture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]