Publikationen

Atomically flat and clean metal surfaces exhibit a regime of ultra-low friction at low normal loads. Atomic force microscopy, performed in ultra-high vacuum on Cu(100) and Au(111) surfaces, reveals a clear stick-slip modulation in the lateral force but almost zero dissipation. Significant friction is observed only for higher loads (∼4–6 nN above the pull-off force) together with the onset of wear. We discuss the minor role of thermal activation in the low friction regime and suggest that a compliant metallic neck between tip and surface is formed which brings upon the low, load-independent shear stress.

We report the design and development of a friction force microscope for high-resolution studies in electrochemical environments. The design choices are motivated by the experimental requirements of atomic-scale friction measurements in liquids. The noise of the system is analyzed based on a methodology for the quantification of all the noise sources. The quantitative contribution of each noise source is analyzed in a series of lateral force measurements. Normal force detection is demonstrated in a study of the solvation potential in a confined liquid, octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane. The limitations of the timing resolution of the instrument are discussed in the context of an atomic stick-slip measurement. The instrument is capable of studying the atomic friction contrast between a bare Au(111) surface and a copper monolayer deposited at underpotential conditions in perchloric acid.

We review the use of atomic force microscopy (AFM) in liquids to measure oscillatory solvation forces. We find solvation layering can occur for all the liquids studied (linear and branched alkanes) but marked variations in the force and dissipation may arise dependent on: a) the temperature, b) the tip shape/radius of curvature, and c) the degree of molecular branching. Several findings (e.g., the strong temperature dependence in measured solvation forces, solvation oscillations using branched molecules) differ from those observed using the Surface Force Apparatus, because of the nanoscale area probed by AFM. Conduction AFM is used to explore how liquid is squeezed out of the tip-sample gap, and enables the change in contact area of the tip-sample junction to be monitored and compared to mechanical models. We find elastic models provide a good description of the deformation of ordered, solid-like solvation layers but not disordered, liquid-like layers.

We review recent friction measurements on ordered superstructures performed by atomic force microscopy. In particular, we consider ultrathin KBr films on NaCl(001) and Cu(001) surfaces, single and bilayer graphene on SiC(0001), and the herringbone reconstruction of Au(111). Atomically resolved friction images of these systems show periodic features spanning across several unit cells. Although the physical mechanisms responsible for the formation of these superstructures are quite different, the experimental results can be interpreted within the same phenomenological framework. A comparison between experiments and modeling shows that, in the cases of KBr films on NaCl(001) and of graphene films, the tip-surface interaction is well described by a potential with the periodicity of the substrate which is modulated or, respectively, superimposed with a potential with the symmetry of the superstructure.

In this paper we present a novel application of denoising by means of nonlinear diffusion filters (NDFs). NDFs have been successfully applied for image processing and computer vision areas, particularly in image denoising, smoothing, segmentation, and restoration. We apply two types of NDFs for the denoising of evoked responses in single-trials in a matrix form, the nonlinear isotropic and the anisotropic diffusion filters. We show that by means of NDFs we are able to denoise the evoked potentials resulting in a better extraction of physiologically relevant morphological features over the ongoing experiment. This technique offers the advantage of translation-invariance in comparison to other well-known methods, e.g., wavelet denoising based on maximally decimated filter banks, due to an adaptive diffusion feature. We compare the proposed technique with a wavelet denoising scheme that had been introduced before for evoked responses. It is concluded that NDFs represent a promising and useful approach in the denoising of event related potentials. Novel NDF applications of single-trials of auditory brain responses (ABRs) and the transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) evoked electroencephalographic responses denoising are presented in this paper.

A new class of materials for ultrasonic matching layers is presented. The materials consist of nanoscale cerium oxide particles in an epoxy functionalized organic inorganic hybrid polymer matrix. The cerium oxide agglomerates to particles with 20 nm diameters. The content of particles in the polymer matrix could be increased to 75 wt.% which corresponds to 37 vol.%. The most technical important piezoelectrical ceramics have an acoustic impedance of about 30 MRayl, to improve coupling into water or biological tissue with an acoustic impedance of about 1.5 MRayl a matching layer should have an acoustic impedance of about 6.8 MRayl. With a filling degree of 75 wt.% the new composite material reaches an acoustic impedance of 7 MRayl. The materials are synthesized by a hydrolytic condensation combined with polymerization. This way of synthesis allows the use of organic solvents to adjust the viscosity of the sol and the application of different coating techniques. Ultrasound transducers (100 MHz) were built to test the new matching layers and an increase of the voltage signal amplitude of about 100% could be detected.

Nanoscaled hydroxyapatite (n-HAp) was prepared by a wet chemical precipitation method, pressed to pellets and sintered at various temperatures between 900 and 1200°C. With input stoichiometries of Ca/P ratios between 1.4 and 2.0, compositions in the substoichiometric range of Ca/P between 1.45(1) and 1.62(3) were determined after preparation. After sintering, final values of the Ca/P ratio between 1.45(8) and 1.66(4) were found. Capacitances and dielectric losses were determined in the frequency range between 20 Hz and 1 MHz and dielectric constants calculated from the capacitances. Dependencies of the dielectric properties on the composition, as well as on sintering temperature and frequencies were investigated. The dielectric constants generally tend to increase with increasing Ca-content. Different behaviour was observed for low frequencies (below 103 Hz) and for compositions far from the stoichiometric point of hydroxyapatite (Ca/P: 1.67). Comparable results were found for dielectric losses.

Background: Investigations on pulmonary macrophages (MF) mostly focus on alveolar MF (AM) as a well-defined cell population. Characteristics of MF in the interstitium, referred to as lung interstitial MF (IM), are rather ill-defined. In this study we therefore aimed to elucidate differences between AM and IM obtained from human lung tissue. Methods: Human AM and IM were isolated from human non-tumor lung tissue from patients undergoing lung resection. Cell morphology was visualized using either light, electron or confocal microscopy. Phagocytic activity was analyzed by flow cytometry as well as confocal microscopy. Surface marker expression was measured by flow cytometry. Toll-like receptor (TLR) expression patterns as well as cytokine expression upon TLR4 or TLR9 stimulation were assessed by real time RT-PCR and cytokine protein production was measured using a fluorescent bead-based immunoassay. Results: IM were found to be smaller and morphologically more heterogeneous than AM, whereas phagocytic activity was similar in both cell types. HLA-DR expression was markedly higher in IM compared to AM. Although analysis of TLR expression profiles revealed no differences between the two cell populations, AM and IM clearly varied in cell reaction upon activation. Both MF populations were markedly activated by LPS as well as DNA isolated from attenuated mycobacterial strains (M. bovis H37Ra and BCG). Whereas AM expressed higher amounts of inflammatory cytokines upon activation, IM were more efficient in producing immunoregulatory cytokines, such as IL10, IL1ra, and IL6. Conclusion: AM appear to be more effective as a non-specific first line of defence against inhaled pathogens, whereas IM show a more pronounced regulatory function. These dissimilarities should be taken into consideration in future studies on the role of human lung MF in the inflammatory response.

Agglomeration of monodisperse thiol-stabilized gold particles with diameters of 6 nm, suspended in organic solvents, was induced by the cooling of the suspension. A sharp transition between the stable suspension and agglomeration resulted. The temperature of the transition depends on the concentration and the compatibility of the solvent. The morphology of the formed particle structures upon agglomeration implies that the used metal colloid can be described as a van der Waals-gas. The particles undergo phase transitions from a stable fluid phase to a metastable phase, in which nucleation and growth occur, or to an instable phase, in which spinodal decomposition occurs. The results will direct research on routes to nanostructured materials using nanoparticles as building blocks.

A reliable strategy is presented to combine the preparation of functional building blocks based on polymer beads decorated with luminescent nanocrystals (NCs) and their precise positioning onto suitable patterns by capillary assembly technique. In particular, a layer-by-layer (LbL) polyelectrolyte (PE) deposition procedure has been implemented to provide uniform NC coverage on PS beads, thus conveying the optical properties of luminescent nanocrystals to highly processable PS beads. The latter have then been integrated into patterned stamps by means of template-driven capillary assembly. Their selective positioning has been directed by means of pattern geometry. The use of luminescent (CdSe)ZnS NCs offers a direct optical probe to evaluate the efficiency of the positioning procedure on the substrate, enabling the extension of the method to a wide range of materials, i.e., NCs with different compositions and specific geometry-dependent properties. Moreover, the precise control over the pattern geometry and the micrometer accuracy in positioning achieved by capillary assembly make such functional patterned structures excellent candidates for integration into devices exploiting specific size-dependent NC properties.