Imaging of Mechanical Properties of Soft Matter. From Heterogeneous Polymer Surfaces to Single Biomolecules

In recent years the atomic force microscope (AFM) has evolved from a high resolution imaging tool to an enabling platform for physical studies at the nanoscale including quantitative mapping of mechanical characteristics of surfaces providing simultaneous topography and mechanical property maps across the length scales. In the work presented here peak force tapping AFM was utilized to elaborate the nanoscale mechanical performance of phase separated polyurethanes (PUs) and the mechanical properties of lysozyme molecules adsorbed to mica substrates.