Development of a micromechanical thermogravimetric tool for investigation of biominerals
Final Report Abstract
Advances in the field of biomineralization are limited by the analysis of macrosized biominerals. The fundamental question of the project was to determine the quantity and localization of organic content within biominerals. We have developed novel methods to determine the quantity and localization of organic content within biominerals with masses down to picogramms, i.e. single/individual microsized structures or biominerals. These methods are based on thermogravimetric principles and scanning force microscopy techniques. With our miniaturized thermogravimetry samples can be heated up to 1000°C with a mass resolution <1 pg. This parameter outperforms the mass sensitivity of the commercial TG instruments. However, for metallic-wire-heaters we found a significant spatial non-uniformity in the temperature. The latter leads to a reduced TG performance. Finite element simulations indicated that bulk microheaters would be much better. In addition, our measurements indicated that the micromechanical cantilever sensing technique is very sensitive to changes in the Young’s modulus of the cantilever material. Therefore, we had the idea to deposit an additional layer on top of the cantilever and measure its Young’s module. Within the project we have measured the Young’s module of ultrathin (~ 20 nm) plasma polymerized films. Infrared spectroscopy based on scanning force microscopy is an ideal tool to identify organic components in biominerals. The method exhibits a lateral resolution < 20 nm. Using infrared spectroscopy based on scanning force microscopy, we localized the presence of sediments in flint stones. This work is ongoing and will be continued beyond the funded DFG project.
Publications
- Thermal Characterization of Dynamic Silicon Cantilever Array Sensors by Digital Holographic Microscopy, Sensors, 17 (6), 1191 (2017)
Marjan Zakerin, Antonin Novak, Masaya Toda, Yves Emery, Filipe Natalio, Hans-Jürgen Butt, Rüdiger Berger
(See online at https://doi.org/10.3390/s17061191) - Pico-thermogravimetric material properties analysis using a diamond cantilever beam, Sensors and Actuators A, 271, 356-363 (2018)
Ioana Voiculescu, Meiyong Liao, Marjan Zakerin, Rüdiger Berger, Takahito Ono, Masaya Toda
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sna.2018.01.004) - Young's modulus of plasma-polymerized allylamine films using micromechanical cantilever sensor and laser-based surface acoustic wave techniques, Plasma Process Polym., 15 (9) e1800083 (2018)
Masaya Toda, Koji Miyake, Liqiang Chu, Marjan Zakerin, Renate Förch, Rüdiger Berger, Akiko N. Itakura
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1002/ppap.201800083) - Critical analysis of Micro-Thermogravimetry of CuSO4 5H2O crystals using heatable Microcantilevers, Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, 29(10), 105009 (2019)
Nikhilendu Tiwary, Marjan Zakerin, Filipe Natalio, Eugen Biegler, Fritzsche Marco, Hermann Kaubitzsch, Apurba Laha, Rüdiger Berger, V. Ramgopal Rao
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6439/ab30a3)
