ABSTRACT

In general, the AFM studies can be divided into topographical applications (imaging mode) and force spectroscopy or so-called atomic force spectroscopy (AFS), i.e., measuring forces as a function of distance [3-6]. The former group generates an image of the sample surface to observe its structural or dynamic features and it has been employed very effectively on a wide variety of surfaces, including semiconductors [7], biological systems [8-11] and polymers [12-15], with resolution in the micrometer to subnanometer range, thus facilitating imaging at the submolecular level. The second group (AFS) is one of the most promising and interesting research areas related to SPM [16], allowing the study of interand intra-molecular forces. AFS has already been successfully applied to studies of biological systems [17-19], polymers (Refs [20-23] and data not shown) and interfacial phenomena [3, 24-28]. The aim of this review is to provide a glimpse of the potential and limitations of the application of AFS to studies of adhesion phenomena.