OBSERVATION OF WATER DROPLET ON VARIOUS M ATERIALS BY NONCONTACTING AFM

The small water droplets which adhere to the material surface cause co rrosion and photo catalytic reaction. It is important to study the beh avior of these small water droplets to understand the mechanism of the se reactions. Recently the author has succeeded in observing the dropl et of pure mater on graphite by a non-contacting AC AFM mode. In this paper, the behavior of mater droplets was studied by combining the con tact and non-contact scanning modes on graphite, mica and SUS304 stain less steel. The behavior of water droplets was dependent on the materi al and the solution and the water droplets were easily moved by contac t mode scanning. Small water droplets were generated at the step site on the graphite surface, while only water films evolved on the mica su rface at the humidity of 90%.