Electrografting of polymers onto AFM tips: A novel approach for chemical force microscopy and force spectroscopy

Polymer-modified AFM tips have been prepared through an easily implemented and versatile electrochemical method (see graphic). The authors describe the electropolymerization process of acrylic-based monomers onto gold-coated tips (see graphic) and show force curves obtained during approach-retraction cycles between the modified tips and a bare silicon surface. This direct chemical grafting creates new possibilities for single-molecule force spectroscopy.