Figure 3
Adhesion and deformation of PM2.5 particles.
(a) (b) and (c) topographic, contact force and deformation maps of a PM2.5 particle with a flat surface (respectively). The images reveal a more complete picture of the mechanical properties of the particle. Since many particles can be analyzed during the same scan, this AFM mode paves the way to statistically analyze the mechanical properties of the particles. The scale bars are 300 nm for (a–c).
