Connecting Atoms and Molecule via AFM imaging

[MolaKule]

"..By connecting atomic-scale models to the AFM imaging experiments, we can understand fundamental chemical features in the images," said Hybertsen.

"This capability may help us identify critical molecule properties, including reactivity and stability, in complex mixtures (such as petroleum) based on HR-AFM images," added Zahl..."

Imaging the chemical fingerprints of molecules

Flip through any chemistry textbook and you'll see drawings of the chemical structure of molecules—where individual atoms are arranged in space and how they're chemically bonded to each other. For decades, chemists could only indirectly determine chemical structures based on the response...

phys.org

 

[Propflux01]

 

[gman2304]

I was just pondering this today…..

 

[JHZR2]

Not sure I’m actually understanding the benefit of AFM on the analyses associated with complex systems and mixtures. My Ph.D. Focused on using EXAFS to look at interactions of active surface species with certain chemical constituents. I could use surface sensitive methods, interact specific species, as well as highly varied mixtures like high sulfur fuel, and identify the interactions by bond length as described by the FFTs.

To be more clear, I don’t quite get why one would use AFM for complex mixtures, because Immnot getting how it could discriminate. I’m not sure I understand how the AFM discriminates the wetted surface from one complex compound to another, since there would be many present, besides surface metal, and in some cases, oxides, hydroxyls, other adsorbed carbon, etc. Or maybe it can’t be a wetted surface - it strikes me it might only be able to be a monolayer. That would make sense and be viable, I guess, but is a very simple system.

In my dissertation work, I had to do a lot of individual compounds to understand the interactions, in order to then back out what I was seeing when doing analyses on more complex systems.

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

"..By connecting atomic-scale models to the AFM imaging experiments, we can understand fundamental chemical features in the images," said Hybertsen.

"This capability may help us identify critical molecule properties, including reactivity and stability, in complex mixtures (such as petroleum) based on HR-AFM images," added Zahl..."

Imaging the chemical fingerprints of molecules

Flip through any chemistry textbook and you'll see drawings of the chemical structure of molecules—where individual atoms are arranged in space and how they're chemically bonded to each other. For decades, chemists could only indirectly determine chemical structures based on the response...

phys.org