Atomic force microscopy at mineral-water interfaces : hydration, chemical identification and point defects
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Abstract
A fundamental understanding of mineral-water interfaces is relevant in industrial processes and in diverse fields of research, such as geology and biomineralization. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been proven as a valuable tool for investigating mineral-water interfaces in real space. The first part of this thesis reports on new approaches in the analysis, simulation and experimental setup of three-dimensional atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements. I derive the “three AFM equations” that can be used for the quantitative analysis of AFM data, regardless of the AFM operation mode. I implement an interactive virtual AFM that allows to check the validity of the approximation used for deriving the three AFM equations. Moreover, I present the experimental implementation of 3D AFM mapping using a custom-programmed microcontroller and a custom data-acquisition software. In the second part of the thesis, high-resolution measurement at the interface between carbonate minerals (calcite, dolomite and magnesite) and liquid water reveal atomic-scale insights in the surface hydration. I characterize the hydration structure near single point defects and demonstrate that it is even possible to chemically identify surface ions at the mineral-water interface by their different hydration.