ABSTRACT
This chapter presents different measures to characterize the surfaces and different experimental methods to evaluate these measures. There are several commonly used techniques that can be employed to measure the contact angle. Various surface treatment methods have been used to modify silicon-based surfaces in order to improve the adsorption of a protein for sensing purposes. Research in the field of biomicroelectromechanical systems and microfluidics has demonstrated that the topography of a surface may determine the wetting characteristics of a solid-liquid interface. The atomic force microscope (AFM) is used for the investigation of structure and mechanical properties of biological materials. AFM can be used for the determination of cell stiffness and for measuring the force between a ligand and a receptor. Infrared spectroscopy is one of the most important spectroscopic techniques used for the characterization of organic functional groups. Molecular adsorption on a solid surface is driven by surface Gibbs free energy reduction, which leads to a change in surface stress.
