17,052 research outputs found
Carbon fibre tips for scanning probe microscopy based on quartz tuning fork force sensors
We report the fabrication and the characterization of carbon fibre tips for
their use in combined scanning tunnelling and force microscopy based on
piezoelectric quartz tuning fork force sensors. We find that the use of carbon
fibre tips results in a minimum impact on the dynamics of quartz tuning fork
force sensors yielding a high quality factor and consequently a high force
gradient sensitivity. This high force sensitivity in combination with high
electrical conductivity and oxidation resistance of carbon fibre tips make them
very convenient for combined and simultaneous scanning tunnelling microscopy
and atomic force microscopy measurements. Interestingly, these tips are quite
robust against occasionally occurring tip crashes. An electrochemical
fabrication procedure to etch the tips is presented that produces a sub-100 nm
apex radius in a reproducible way which can yield high resolution images.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figure
Scanning electrochemical cell microscopy : a versatile technique for nanoscale electrochemistry and functional imaging
Scanning electrochemical cell microscopy (SECCM) is a new pipette-based imaging technique purposely designed to allow simultaneous electrochemical, conductance, and topographical visualization of surfaces and interfaces. SECCM uses a tiny meniscus or droplet, confined between the probe and the surface, for high-resolution functional imaging and nanoscale electrochemical measurements. Here we introduce this technique and provide an overview of its principles, instrumentation, and theory. We discuss the power of SECCM in resolving complex structure-activity problems and provide considerable new information on electrode processes by referring to key example systems, including graphene, graphite, carbon nanotubes, nanoparticles, and conducting diamond. The many longstanding questions that SECCM has been able to answer during its short existence demonstrate its potential to become a major technique in electrochemistry and interfacial science
Antenna-enhanced Optoelectronic Probing of Carbon Nanotubes
We report on the first antenna-enhanced optoelectronic microscopy studies on
nanoscale devices. By coupling the emission and excitation to a scanning
optical antenna, we are able to locally enhance the electroluminescence and
photocurrent along a carbon nanotube device. We show that the emission source
of the electroluminescence can be point-like with a spatial extension below 20
nm. Topographic and antenna-enhanced photocurrent measurements reveal that the
emission takes place at the location of highest local electric field indicating
that the mechanism behind the emission is the radiative decay of excitons
created via impact excitation
Electrochemistry at nanoscale electrodes : individual single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and SWNT-templated metal nanowires
Individual nanowires (NWs) and native single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) can be readily used as well-defined nanoscale electrodes (NSEs) for voltammetric analysis. Here, the simple photolithography-free fabrication of submillimeter long Au, Pt, and Pd NWs, with sub-100 nm heights, by templated electrodeposition onto ultralong flow-aligned SWNTs is demonstrated. Both individual Au NWs and SWNTs are employed as NSEs for electron-transfer (ET) kinetic quantification, using cyclic voltammetry (CV), in conjunction with a microcapillary-based electrochemical method. A small capillary with internal diameter in the range 30–70 μm, filled with solution containing a redox-active mediator (FcTMA+ ((trimethylammonium)methylferrocene), Fe(CN)64–, or hydrazine) is positioned above the NSE, so that the solution meniscus completes an electrochemical cell. A 3D finite-element model, faithfully reproducing the experimental geometry, is used to both analyze the experimental CVs and derive the rate of heterogeneous ET, using Butler–Volmer kinetics. For a 70 nm height Au NW, intrinsic rate constants, k0, up to ca. 1 cm s–1 can be resolved. Using the same experimental configuration the electrochemistry of individual SWNTs can also be accessed. For FcTMA+/2+ electrolysis the simulated ET kinetic parameters yield very fast ET kinetics (k0 > 2 ± 1 cm s–1). Some deviation between the experimental voltammetry and the idealized model is noted, suggesting that double-layer effects may influence ET at the nanoscale
Nanoscale electrochemistry of sp2 carbon materials: from graphite and graphene to carbon nanotubes
Carbon materials have a long history of use as electrodes in electrochemistry, from (bio)electroanalysis to applications in energy technologies, such as batteries and fuel cells. With the advent of new forms of nanocarbon, particularly, carbon nanotubes and graphene, carbon electrode materials have taken on even greater significance for electrochemical studies, both in their own right and as components and supports in an array of functional composites.
With the increasing prominence of carbon nanomaterials in electrochemistry comes a need to critically evaluate the experimental framework from which a microscopic understanding of electrochemical processes is best developed. This Account advocates the use of emerging electrochemical imaging techniques and confined electrochemical cell formats that have considerable potential to reveal major new perspectives on the intrinsic electrochemical activity of carbon materials, with unprecedented detail and spatial resolution. These techniques allow particular features on a surface to be targeted and models of structure–activity to be developed and tested on a wide range of length scales and time scales.
When high resolution electrochemical imaging data are combined with information from other microscopy and spectroscopy techniques applied to the same area of an electrode surface, in a correlative-electrochemical microscopy approach, highly resolved and unambiguous pictures of electrode activity are revealed that provide new views of the electrochemical properties of carbon materials. With a focus on major sp2 carbon materials, graphite, graphene, and single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), this Account summarizes recent advances that have changed understanding of interfacial electrochemistry at carbon electrodes including: (i) Unequivocal evidence for the high activity of the basal surface of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG), which is at least as active as noble metal electrodes (e.g., platinum) for outer-sphere redox processes. (ii) Demonstration of the high activity of basal plane HOPG toward other reactions, with no requirement for catalysis by step edges or defects, as exemplified by studies of proton-coupled electron transfer, redox transformations of adsorbed molecules, surface functionalization via diazonium electrochemistry, and metal electrodeposition. (iii) Rationalization of the complex interplay of different factors that determine electrochemistry at graphene, including the source (mechanical exfoliation from graphite vs chemical vapor deposition), number of graphene layers, edges, electronic structure, redox couple, and electrode history effects. (iv) New methodologies that allow nanoscale electrochemistry of 1D materials (SWNTs) to be related to their electronic characteristics (metallic vs semiconductor SWNTs), size, and quality, with high resolution imaging revealing the high activity of SWNT sidewalls and the importance of defects for some electrocatalytic reactions (e.g., the oxygen reduction reaction). The experimental approaches highlighted for carbon electrodes are generally applicable to other electrode materials and set a new framework and course for the study of electrochemical and interfacial processes
Force-detected nuclear magnetic resonance: Recent advances and future challenges
We review recent efforts to detect small numbers of nuclear spins using
magnetic resonance force microscopy. Magnetic resonance force microscopy (MRFM)
is a scanning probe technique that relies on the mechanical measurement of the
weak magnetic force between a microscopic magnet and the magnetic moments in a
sample. Spurred by the recent progress in fabricating ultrasensitive force
detectors, MRFM has rapidly improved its capability over the last decade. Today
it boasts a spin sensitivity that surpasses conventional, inductive nuclear
magnetic resonance detectors by about eight orders of magnitude. In this review
we touch on the origins of this technique and focus on its recent application
to nanoscale nuclear spin ensembles, in particular on the imaging of nanoscale
objects with a three-dimensional (3D) spatial resolution better than 10 nm. We
consider the experimental advances driving this work and highlight the
underlying physical principles and limitations of the method. Finally, we
discuss the challenges that must be met in order to advance the technique
towards single nuclear spin sensitivity -- and perhaps -- to 3D microscopy of
molecules with atomic resolution.Comment: 15 pages & 11 figure
Nonlinear damping in mechanical resonators based on graphene and carbon nanotubes
Carbon nanotubes and graphene allow fabricating outstanding nanomechanical
resonators. They hold promise for various scientific and technological
applications, including sensing of mass, force, and charge, as well as the
study of quantum phenomena at the mesoscopic scale. Here, we have discovered
that the dynamics of nanotube and graphene resonators is in fact highly exotic.
We propose an unprecedented scenario where mechanical dissipation is entirely
determined by nonlinear damping. As a striking consequence, the quality factor
Q strongly depends on the amplitude of the motion. This scenario is radically
different from that of other resonators, whose dissipation is dominated by a
linear damping term. We believe that the difference stems from the reduced
dimensionality of carbon nanotubes and graphene. Besides, we exploit the
nonlinear nature of the damping to improve the figure of merit of
nanotube/graphene resonators.Comment: main text with 4 figures, supplementary informatio
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