Variation of surface charge along the surface of wool fibers assessed by high-resolution force spectroscopy

Abstract

In this study, we have mapped the surface charge of wool fibers using chemically specific high-resolution force spectroscopy in order to better understand the dispersion of amino acids in relation to fiber morphology. The inter-surface forces between standard atomic force microscopy (AFM) probe tips(tip radius ~ 50 nm) functionalized with COOH and NH3 terminated alkanethiol self assembling monolayers and the wool surface were used to estimate the surface charge per unit area using linear Poisson-Boltzmann-based electrostatic double layer theory. The positional measurement of nano-scale surface charge showed a correlation between the surface charge and fiber morphology, indicated that basic amino acids are located near the scale edges.