We investigated the effect of varying the set-point amplitude of the Kelvin probe force microscope (KPFM) or an electric probe variant of the atomic force microscope for contact charging of muscovite mica at nanoscale resolution. We used the tapping mode of KPFM resonant at 300 kHz to observe noticeable surface potential on the muscovite mica by simply adjusting the amplitude set point Asp at 40-, 30-, 20-, and 10-nm levels. Throughout the study, an n-type Si tip was used for KPFM with a nominal radius of 7 nm and +1 V direct current bias setting. With KPFM’s scanning velocity set at 1.67 μm/sec and lateral scanning frequency of 0.8 Hz, contact electrification was observed on a 21-μm-thick cleaved muscovite mica. At Asp = 40 nm and 30 nm, results showed a consistent positive surface charge distribution that agrees well with the standard triboelectric series. However, at Asp = 20 nm, the surface charge distribution suddenly changed into negative charge but eventually reverted when Asp was set to 10 nm. The first sign reversal can be attributed to the electron field emission emanating from the n-type Si tip to the muscovite mica surface when the surface potential reached the −150-mV mark. On the other hand, the second sign reversal happened due to the back tunneling from the mica’s surface to the tip.
Keywords: Muscovite mica, triboelectricity, AFMBaytekin, H. T., Baytekin, B., Incorvati, J. T., & Grzybowski, B. A. (2012). Material transfer and polarity reversal in contact charging. Angewandte Chemie, 124(20), 4927–4931. https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.201200057
Bergström, L. (1997). Hamaker constants of inorganic materials. Advances in Colloid and Interface Science, 70, 152. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0001-8686(97)00003-1
Christenson, H. K., & Thomson, N. H. (2016). The nature of the air-cleaved mica surface. Surface Science Reports, 71(2), 367–390.
De Poel, W., Pintea, S., Drnec, J., Carla, F., Felici, R., Mulder, P., Vlieg, E. (2014). Muscovite mica: Flatter than a pancake. Surface Science, 619, 19–24.
Diaz, A. F., & Felix-Navarro, R. M. (2004). A semi-quantitative tribo-electric series for polymeric materials: The influence of chemical structure and properties. Journal of Electrostatics, 62, 277–290.
Esmeria, J. M., Lacuesta, T., & Pobre R. (2019). 2019: Proceedings of the 37th Samahang Pisika ng Pilipinas Physics Conference. https://proceedings.spponline.org/issue/view/SPP-2019
Frank, P., Hlawacek, G., Lengyel, O., Satka, A., Teichert, C., Resel, R., & Winkler, A. (2007). Influence of surface temperature and surface modifications on the initial layer growth of para-hexaphenyl on mica (001). Surface Science, 601(10), 2152–2160.
Hashimoto, Y., & Sakakibara, T. (2000). Surface states of mica and contact charging. Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, 39(Part 1, No. 1), 231–235. https://doi.org/10.1143/jjap.39.231
Kalita, J., & Wary, G. (2016). Estimation of band gap of muscovite mineral using thermo-luminescence (TL) analysis. Physica B: Condensed Matter, 485, 53–59.
Kelley, V. (2010). Dimension Icon with Scan Assist instruction manual 004-1023-000 (Rev E). Bruker Nano Surfaces.
Lacks, D. J., & Mohan Sankaran, R. (2011). Contact electrification of insulating materials. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 44(45), 453001. https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/44/45/453001
Legleiter, J. (2009). The effect of drive frequency and set point amplitude on tapping forces in atomic force microscopy: Simulation and experiment. Nanotechnology, 20(24), 245703.
Lowell, J. (1979). Tunnelling between metals and insulators and its role in contact electrification. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 12(9), 1541–1554. https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/12/9/016
Melitz, W., Shen, J., Kummel, A. C., & Lee, S. (2011). Kelvin probe force microscopy and its application. Surface Science Reports, 66(1), 1–27.
Müller, K., & Chang, C. (1968). Low energy electron diffraction observations of electric dipoles on mica surfaces. Surface Science, 9(3), 455–458. https://doi.org/10.1016/0039-6028(68)90149-0
Muscovite. (2021). https://geology.com/minerals/muscovite.shtml
Muscovite mica substrates. (2021). SPI Supplies. https://www.2spi.com/category/mica-substrates/substrates/
Noras, M. (2003). Charge detection method of dielectrics—Overview. Trek Application Note, (3005), 1–13. https://www.advancedenergy.com/globalassets/resources-root/application-notes/en-esvm-charge-detection-methods-application-note.pdf
Pan, S., & Zhang, Z. (2018). Fundamental theories and basic principles of triboelectric effect: A review. Friction, 7(1), 2–17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-018-0217-7
Park, J. Y., & Salmeron, M. (2013). Fundamental aspects of energy dissipation in friction. Chemical Reviews, 114(1), 677–711. https://doi.org/10.1021/cr200431y
Properties and chemical composition of mica grade V1. (2021). https://www.tedpella.com/vacuum_html/Mica_Grade_V1_Properties.htm9(9), 1304 (1–11). https://doi.org/10.3390/nano9 091304
Wang, J., Qian, S., Yu, J., Zhang, Q., Yuan, Z., Sang, S., Sun, L. (2019). Flexible and wearable PDMS-based triboelectric nanogenerator for self-powered tactile sensing. Nanomaterials, 9(9), 1304 (1–11). https://doi.org/10.3390/nano9091304
Wang, J., Zhou, L., Zhang, C., & Lin Wang, Z. (2020). Small-scale energy harvesting from environment by triboelectric nanogenerators. A guide to small-scale energy harvesting techniques. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.83703
Wang, Z. L., & Wang, A. C. (2019). On the origin of contact-electrification. Materials Today, 30, 34–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mattod.2019.05.016
Williams, M. W. (2012). Triboelectric charging of insulating polymers—some new perspectives. AIP Advances, 2(1), 010701.
Zhang, X., He, Y., Li, R., Dong, H., & Hu, W. (2016). 2D mica crystal as electret in organic field-effect transistors for multistate memory. Advanced Materials, 28(19), 3755–3760. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201506356
Zhang, J., Su, C., Rogers, F. J., Darwish, N., Coote, M. L., & Ciampi, S. (2020). Irreproducibility in the triboelectric charging of insulators: Evidence of a non-monotonic charge versus contact time relationship. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 22(20), 11671–11677. https://doi.org/10.1039/d0cp01317j
Zhou, Y. S., Li, S., Niu, S., & Wang, Z. L. (2016). Effect of contact- and sliding-mode electrification on nanoscale charge transfer for energy harvesting. Nano Research, 9(12), 3705–3713.
Zou, H., Guo, L., Xue, H., Zhang, Y., Shen, X., Liu, X., Wang, Z. L. (2020). Quantifying and understanding the triboelectric series of inorganic non-metallic materials. Nature Communications, 11(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15926-1
Zou, H., Zhang, Y., Guo, L., Wang, P., He, X., Dai, G., Wang, Z. L. (2019). Quantifying the triboelectric series. Nature Communications, 10(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-09461-x