Dear Dr. Omkar S. Kushwaha,

perhaps a single instrument with combined techniques, capable of providing both the elemental composition and the morphology of the surface nanostructure, would really be the best. Something like this has been studied and maybe we could benefit from it in the next future: Nano-scale chemical mapping and surface structural modification by joined use of X-ray microbeams and tip assisted local detection.

For more details, please see at: https://cordis.europa.eu/article/id/88467-integrated-chemical-and-structural-surface-id

Best regards, Pierluigi Traverso

An exhaustive analysis of a surface needs at least a chemical analysis and a morphologic one.

FTIR often is a good choice for a comparative chemical analysis. An advantage is its simplicity, a main disadvantage is that FTIR is not really "quantitative", even if a relative quantification may be attempted in some cases and with a proper calibration. Raman is also an interesting technique. It provides resultas which are typically complementary to the FTIR ones (Raman active modes are generally FTIR-inactive and viceversa)). However, the signal level is usually too small due to the low cross sections. I would just start with FTIR and see how it comes out.

AFM is a good technique to measure the surface morphology on a lateral scale that goes from about 1 square micrometer up to several thousends of square micrometers..

If info about the electronic properties of the surface are needed too, more complex techniques must be used, such as Photoemission Spectroscopy (XPS, UPS), which requires much more money, expertise and... vacuum systems.

AFM

Dear Omkar S. Kushwaha

In principle the AFM can be measured the chemical information on the surface of thin film by measuring the force difference between the tip and individual atoms and for more clarification please see the following article.

Kind regards

Dear Dr. Kushwaha

The vibrational spectroscopy (like Raman and FTIR) specially work on the principle of quantifying the vibrational modes present in the sample.

But if you want to study the surface morphology of thin films or nanocomposites, then AFM is suitable for that.

The references attached by Dr. Pierluigi Traverso and Dr. M. S. Alkathy are quite helpful.

Best Regards,

Dr. Manojit De

If you are looking for chemical changes, FTIR or raman. Even though the force between the tip and your film can help you, it is affected by a lot of others parameters (roughness, grain size..) and won't give you the exactly information of what chemical bonds changed easily.

Be aware that FTIR has a high depth penetration, if your film is too thin, it will retrieve informations mainly of the substrate, even using attenuated total reflectance (atr).

AFM will give you desirable results if you are dealing with surface analysis.

Additionally, if you are looking for studying surface morphology then you can go through SEM/FESEM.

The answer is very simple. Two methods that use different physical phenomena to excite oscillations give mutually complementary information. Therefore, they do not need to be compared if we are not talking about the state of the samples (Solid or liquid).

Dear sir, these methods were focused on different aspects of the materials. AFM mainly exhibited the surface morphology, while Raman and FITR could provide the information of the chemical compositions.

FTIR and Raman Spectroscopy is useful in the study of chemical bonding information of the samples, where as AFM, SEM and FESEM can provide morphological information about the sample surface.

Thank you Virendra Nath Rai , Jialin Chi , Alexander Loskutov and Kuldeep Singh Chauhan for your insights.

For finding chemical composition or nature of the films, I think FTIR in ATR mode is the best option !!

Sugimoto, Yoshiaki, Pablo Pou, Masayuki Abe, Pavel Jelinek, Rubén Pérez, Seizo Morita, and Oscar Custance. "Chemical identification of individual surface atoms by atomic force microscopy." Nature 446, no. 7131 (2007): 64-67.

Azeez Abdullah Barzinjy

The shared article is really useful.

Alexander Loskutov

Will you elaborate further.

Now it's hard to give a definite answer

Dear Omkar,

If you are interested in general chemical changes analysis on the surface without morphology, FTIR is advisable.

FTIR vs. Raman Vs AFM

FTIR measures how much light is the remaining energy from the original light source after being passed through the substance. In comparison, Raman measures the energy that is scattered after being excited by a laser. FTIR analysis is used to: Identify and characterize unknown materials (e.g., films, solids, powders, or liquids) Identify contamination on or in a material (e.g., particles, fibers, powders, or liquids) Identify additives after extraction from a polymer matrix. The benefits of upgrading to an FTIR from an existing dispersive infrared instrument will be immediately evident in spectral quality, data collection speed, reproducibility of data, and ease of maintenance and use. For surface morphology analysis AFM is preferred over FTIR and RS. But, if you are looking for chemical composition or characteristics of the films, FTIR in ATR mode is the best option you can have for your goal achievement. Combining Atomic Force Microscopy and Infrared Spectroscopy for Nanoscale Chemical Characterization is quite useful. The AFM–IR technique can be used to acquire IR absorption spectra and absorption images with spatial resolution on the 50 to 100 nm scale, versus the scale of many micrometers or more for conventional IR spectroscopy.

Ashish

Dear Dr. Omkar Singh Kushwaha

Hope you're doing well.

You may refer to this article for more details that I got during my experiments about the surface characterization.

Article Enhancing the Tribological Behavior of Lubricating Oil by Ad...

In a nutshell, I've conducted energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX/EDS), elements mapping, and Raman spectroscopy to confirm the presence of nanoparticles and the formation of tribolayer/film on contacting surfaces. Moreover, a 3-D surface texture analyzer/surface roughness measurements (Alicona) was utilized for investigating surface roughness profile, surface texture, surface skewness and surface kurtosis, and surface form.

Also, I've another article available in my research gate account which I have conducted the same as I've aforementioned.

Conference Paper Characterization Investigation of ZnO, Graphene, and ZnO/Gra...

Don't hesitate to contact me directly for more information if need it.

Warm regards,

Dr. Waleed Alghani

Waleed Alghani Ashish Thakur Alexander Loskutov Azeez Abdullah Barzinjy Virendra Nath Rai

Thank you all for sharing useful information and links.

Is there any specific arrangement needed to do FTIR-ATR of films, membranes and powders ?

I have no practical experience with such materials.

Hello Doctor Omkar Singh Kushwaha

I did not perform FTIR-ATR but I have found this for you, perhaps it could be helpful.

Making a sandwich To prepare a liquid sample to IR analysis, firstly place a drop of the liquid on the face of a highly polished salt plate (such as NaCl, AgCl or KBr), then place a second plate on top of the first plate so as to spread the liquid in a thin layer between the plates, and clamps the plates together.

Warm regards,

Waleed

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