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Physics

University of Nebraska - Lincoln

2006

Scanning probe microscopy; Piezoresponse force microscopy; Nanoscale; Piezoelectricity; Calcified tissues; Connective tissues

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Electromechanical Imaging Of Biomaterials By Scanning Probe Microscopy, B. J. Rodriguez, Sergei V. Kalinin, J. Shin, Stephen Jesse, V. Grichko, T. Thundat, Arthur P. Baddorf, Alexei Gruverman Jan 2006

Electromechanical Imaging Of Biomaterials By Scanning Probe Microscopy, B. J. Rodriguez, Sergei V. Kalinin, J. Shin, Stephen Jesse, V. Grichko, T. Thundat, Arthur P. Baddorf, Alexei Gruverman

Alexei Gruverman Publications

The majority of calcified and connective tissues possess complex hierarchical structure spanning the length scales from nanometers to millimeters. Understanding the biological functionality of these materials requires reliable methods for structural imaging on the nanoscale. Here, we demonstrate an approach for electromechanical imaging of the structure of biological samples on the length scales from tens of microns to nanometers using piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM), which utilizes the intrinsic piezoelectricity of biopolymers such as proteins and polysaccharides as the basis for high-resolution imaging. Nanostructural imaging of a variety of protein-based materials, including tooth, antler, and cartilage, is demonstrated. Visualization of protein …