Development of nanoscale visualization probe microscope for surface charge distribution in liquid environment

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K22126
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 29:Applied condensed matter physics and related fields
• Research Institution: Shizuoka University
• Principal Investigator: Iwata Futoshi 静岡大学, 電子工学研究所, 教授 (30262794)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 牛木 辰男 新潟大学, 医歯学系, 教授 (40184999) ; 早津 学 新潟大学, 医歯学系, 助教 (40468898)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-06-28 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 走査型イオン伝導顕微鏡 / ナノバイオ / 表面形状計測 / 表面帯電分布

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Phenomena occurring at the active field of the solid-liquid interface, such as the surface of a material or a biological cell membrane in a liquid environment, are directly related to the charge state, and the visualization of charge distribution is extremely effective in clarifying various phenomena occurring there. In this study, we developed a probe microscope that can visualize the shape and charge distribution of a sample surface in a liquid environment with nanoscale resolution. A novel ion current detection method using a double-barrel nano-pipette with two apertures as a probe based on a scanning ion conduction microscope was developed. We demonstrated the effectiveness of this method in visualizing the charge distribution on the charged polymer surfaces and biological samples.

Free Research Field

プローブ顕微鏡開発

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は，液中環境において固液界面の電荷分布状態をナノスケールでの高分解能で解析・可視化する技術を開発するものである．細胞や組織といった生体試料表面では生体機能が発現する活性場として重要な役割を担っている．また，材料表面においては結晶成長や腐食，触媒反応といった物理・化学反応が盛んに生じている．これらの活性現象は界面上の電荷状態に直接的に関わっていることから，その電荷分布の可視化は極めて有効である．本手法は学術的意義のみでなく，二次電池やキャパシタの開発といった工業分野から細胞や組織の動態解析，病理検査などの医療分野まで広い分野への波及効果と応用展開が期待できる．