We present a theoretical study of the energy loss of highly charged ions un
dergoing distant collisions at grazing incidence angles with the surface of
microcapillary targets. The interaction of highly charged ions with the, i
nternal surface of the microcapillary is treated within the framework of li
near response theory. The specular reflection model and the time-dependent
density functional approach are used to calculate the linear response funct
ions. As projectiles we consider 2.1 keV/amu Kr36+ ions and as target a Ni
microcapillary. For the fraction of the ion beam that does not suffer any c
harge exchange, the energy loss is strongly correlated with the scattering
angle. The distance-dependent stopping power and thereby the surface dielec
tric properties of the capillary material can be probed in detail.