Imaginary magnetic tweezers for massively parallel surface adhesion spectroscopy.

Yang, Ye; Erb, Randall M; Wiley, Benjamin J; Zauscher, Stefan; Yellen, Benjamin B · Nano Lett · 2011

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

A massively parallel magnetic tweezer system has been constructed that utilizes the self-repulsion of colloidal beads from a planar interface via a magnetic dipole image force. Self-repulsion enables the application of a uniform magnetic force to thousands of beads simultaneously, which permits the measurement of unbinding histograms at the lowest loading rates ever tested. The adhesion of 9.8 μm polystyrene beads to a fluorocarbon, PEG, and UV-irradiated PEG surfaces were measured between 10(-3)-10(0) pN/s force loading rates, revealing the presence of both kinetic and quasi-equilibrium unbinding regimes.

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