College of Food and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315800, China.
Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology & Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1219 West Zhongguan Road, Ningbo 315201, China.
Acta Biomater. 2019 Nov;99:33-52. doi: 10.1016/j.actbio.2019.08.023. Epub 2019 Aug 16.
Electrical properties, such as charge propagation, dielectrics, surface potentials, conductivity, and piezoelectricity, play crucial roles in biomolecules, biomembranes, cells, tissues, and other biological samples. However, characterizing these electrical properties in delicate biosamples is challenging. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), the so called "Lab on a Tip" is a powerful and multifunctional approach to quantitatively study the electrical properties of biological samples at the nanometer level. Herein, the principles, theories, and achievements of various modes of AFM in this area have been reviewed and summarized. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Electrical properties such as dielectric and piezoelectric forces, charge propagation behaviors play important structural and functional roles in biosystems from the single molecule level, to cells and tissues. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has emerged as an ideal toolkit to study electrical property of biology. Herein, the basic principles of AFM are described. We then discuss the multiple modes of AFM to study the electrical properties of biological samples, including Electrostatic Force Microscopy (EFM), Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (KPFM), Conductive Atomic Force Microscopy (CAFM), Piezoresponse Force Microscopy (PFM) and Scanning ElectroChemical Microscopy (SECM). Finally, the outlook, prospects, and challenges of the various AFM modes when studying the electrical behaviour of the samples are discussed.
电学性质，如电荷传递、介电常数、表面电势、电导率和压电性，在生物分子、生物膜、细胞、组织和其他生物样本中起着至关重要的作用。然而，在精细的生物样本中描述这些电学性质具有挑战性。原子力显微镜（AFM），也称为“针尖上的实验室”，是一种强大的多功能方法，可以在纳米尺度上定量研究生物样本的电学性质。本文综述和总结了该领域中各种 AFM 模式的原理、理论和成就。
从单分子水平到细胞和组织，介电和压电等电学性质以及电荷传递行为在生物系统中起着重要的结构和功能作用。原子力显微镜（AFM）已成为研究生物学电学性质的理想工具包。本文首先描述了 AFM 的基本原理。然后，我们讨论了多种 AFM 模式来研究生物样本的电学性质，包括静电力显微镜（EFM）、开尔文探针力显微镜（KPFM）、导电原子力显微镜（CAFM）、压电力显微镜（PFM）和扫描电化学显微镜（SECM）。最后，讨论了各种 AFM 模式在研究样品电学行为时的展望、前景和挑战。
