Noncontact AFM First-Principles Simulations of Functionalized Silicon Tips on the Montmorillonite (001) Surface

Abstract

The interaction between functionalized silicon probe tips and the montmorillonite (MMT) surface was studied through density-functional theory (DFT) with the van der Waals DF (vdW-DF) to include the contribution of the vdW forces in the interaction energy of the tip/MMT interface. On the basis of the noncontact AFM (NC-AFM) technique, we modeled an explicit Si probe tip that was functionalized with sulfonic acid (SA) and ethylene glycol (EG) groups present in polymeric surfactants. Accordingly, we obtained the short-range microscopic forces to investigate the hysteresis mechanism due to the approach and retraction processes of the tips as well as tip tilt, usually leading to the topographic and dissipation image contrasts. Furthermore, it was possible assert the influence of different hydrophilicity degrees toward the oxygen sites at the silicate sheet of the MMT (001) surface, which is related to important processes of surface interaction. Our results showed both SA and EG hydrophilic functional groups ar...