The focus on nanotechnology required the use of tools needed to understand phenomena and manipulate materials all the way to the atomic level. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and its related techniques is one of the most important methods for probing and harnessing the potential of nanotechnology.

The recent Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016 awarded to Sauvage, Stoddart, and Feringa for their work in supramolecular chemistry highlighted the need for nanomanipulation and probes to demonstrate stimulation response and motion to molecular and nanomachines. The use of synthetic chemistry has enabled the creation of nano objects resembling gears, axles, and pistons, which can be indirectly probed by methods based on spectroscopy, scattering, and enthalpy relevant methods. However, AFM is one of the few methods available to directly visualize and manipulate these nano-objects by investigating topology and field response in flat surfaces and using specific cantilever-tip to molecule interactions. AFM techniques based on contact and non-contact modes including scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) as well as field-responsive methods have enabled quantitative and visualized experiments to correlate with the dynamics of macromolecular and supramolecular chemistry.

This webinar summarizes this important tool and highlight various efforts by the author on AFM imaging of knotted polymers. Prof. Advincula will also give an overview of the field and history of supramolecular chemistry that has led to the recent Nobel Prize topic.