No Polish, No Promise: Why Sample Preparation Matters in KPFM
Faculty Mentor Information
Dr. Corey Efaw, Boise State University
Presentation Date
7-15-2026
Abstract
Metals, when immersed in complex and corrosive environments, degrade. These degradation processes initiate at local sites in the nanoscale, making it difficult to fully grasp the mechanisms that govern these processes. Afrom force microscopy (AFM) analyzes the topographical surface of a sample at the nano scale. Peak-Force Tapping (PFT), a method of AFM, oscillates a probe over a sample and provides critical information on topography, roughness, and defects. Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) provides PFT-detected topography, followed by retracing the topography at a set sample-probe gap distance acting as a pseudocapacitor to measure localized Volta Potential Differences (VPDs) between different regions of the sample and the probe. KPFM examines corrosion properties of metal alloys, such as magnesium used for biomedical implants, as well as titanium and stainless steel used as current collectors in a battery. This can make process-structure-property connections for preparing samples for atomic layer deposition (ALD) coating. AFM also determines sample smoothness after different sample processing steps to examine the impact of each process. Overall, utilizing PFT for surface roughness and KPFM for corrosion properties can help develop more efficient processing steps for critical metal alloys used in electrochemical studies.
No Polish, No Promise: Why Sample Preparation Matters in KPFM
Metals, when immersed in complex and corrosive environments, degrade. These degradation processes initiate at local sites in the nanoscale, making it difficult to fully grasp the mechanisms that govern these processes. Afrom force microscopy (AFM) analyzes the topographical surface of a sample at the nano scale. Peak-Force Tapping (PFT), a method of AFM, oscillates a probe over a sample and provides critical information on topography, roughness, and defects. Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) provides PFT-detected topography, followed by retracing the topography at a set sample-probe gap distance acting as a pseudocapacitor to measure localized Volta Potential Differences (VPDs) between different regions of the sample and the probe. KPFM examines corrosion properties of metal alloys, such as magnesium used for biomedical implants, as well as titanium and stainless steel used as current collectors in a battery. This can make process-structure-property connections for preparing samples for atomic layer deposition (ALD) coating. AFM also determines sample smoothness after different sample processing steps to examine the impact of each process. Overall, utilizing PFT for surface roughness and KPFM for corrosion properties can help develop more efficient processing steps for critical metal alloys used in electrochemical studies.