Applications of atomic force microscopy in nanobiomaterials research

In the past two decades, atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been widely used for studying nanobiomaterials related research. AFM is a powerful tool that can reveal the surface structure and mechanical properties of nanobiomaterials, and is also known as a nanofabrication tool to manipulate and process nanobiomaterials. The focus of this review is on the recent progress in the applications of AFM for nanobiomaterials, which mainly includes imaging, force measurements, and nanofabrication of nanobiomaterials. AFM can be used to image the topography of nanobiomaterials and analyze the feature height and surface roughness, image the dynamic process of nanobiomaterials related processes in situ. AFM phase imaging can be used to image some surface features of nanobiomaterials those AFM height imaging cannot detect. AFM force curves can be applied to measure the adhesion force between tip and nanobiomaterials, and measure the intermolecular and intramolecular forces of nanobiomaterials. AFM nanoindentation can be applied to measure the mechanical properties (elasticity, Young's modulus, hardness, nanofracture behavior, etc) of nanobiomaterials. In addition, AFM has been explored to fabricate nanobiomaterials in a precise, controllable and reproducible fashion. In summary, as a prowerful nanotechnological tool, AFM has provided an ideal surface-analysis and surface-fabrication tool in the nanobiomaterials related research.