DIRECT IMAGING OF MODIFIED BETA-CYCLODEXTRIN NANOSPHERES BY PHOTON SCANNING TUNNELING AND SCANNING FORCE MICROSCOPY

The morphological and topographical properties of nanospheres are of m ajor importance for characterizing these systems. The quality, and con sequently the applications, of such dispersions are determined by the mean particle size, their distribution by size and the topography of t he nanospheres. This work is devoted to the application of contemporar y analytical techniques: photon scanning tunnelling microscopy (PSTM), scanning force microscopy (SFM) and no-contact scanning force microsc opy (NC-SFM) to image nanospheres prepared from chemically modified be ta-cyclodextrins (PCD-C-6) without any sample preparation which could introduce artefacts. We have shown that the spherical geometry and hig h degree of monodispersity of nanospheres from beta CD-C-6 were confir med by PSTM, but that NC-SFM was an excellent technique for the imagin g of nanospheres prepared from beta CD-C-6.