An atomic force microscope was used to measure the interaction forces between siloxane- anchored organic self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) with nitrogen-containing surface groups on silicon and micron-sized zirconia spheres in aqueous electrolyte solutions. The surface groups studied were alkylammonium salt and amines (primary, secondary, and tertiary). The pH of the solutions ranged from 2.5 to 9 (controlled by adding NaOH or HCl), ...
