Asylum research cypher vrs instrument

For scanning electron
microscopy (SEM) analysis, lignin coatings on silicon wafers were
coated with a 7 nm protective layer of gold using a Q150T Plus, Quorum
Technologies instrument. Images were captured using a Zeiss GeminiSEM
300 at 3.00 kV.
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images were recorded
using an Asylum Research Cypher VRS instrument (Oxford Instruments,
United Kingdom). Measurements were done in tapping mode using a trihedral
aluminum coated silicon cantilever (HQ/NSC14/Al BS, MikroMasch, Hungary)
with 5 N/m spring constant and ∼160 kHz resonance frequency.
The roughness average (R_a) was calculated
using Gwyddion software.
Water contact angle measurements were
performed using a DataPhysics
OCA 35 contact angle measurement instrument in ambient conditions.
A 15 μL Milli-Q water droplet was used for each measurement.
The contact angle was determined using software SCA 20 from DataPhysics.
The reported values are given as the average value of at least 3 measurements
± standard deviation.

Samples for AFM were
prepared on silicon wafers (10 mm × 8 mm size) cleaned via sonication
in methanol, deionized water, and acetone for 10 min each. The substrates
were then placed in a Femto Oxygen Plasma system (200 W, Diener Electronic)
under 5 mL/min oxygen flow for 15 min. AFM images were recorded using
an Asylum Research Cypher VRS instrument (Oxford Instruments, United
Kingdom). Measurements were done in tapping mode using a trihedral
aluminum-coated silicon cantilever (HQ:NSC14/Al BS, MikroMasch, Hungary)
with a spring constant of 5 N/m and a resonance frequency of ∼160
kHz. To determine nanoparticle sizes and size distributions, 4 μL
of a nanoparticle dispersion in CHCl₃ (concentration 0.1
mg/mL) was deposited on a silicon wafer. The wafers were dried overnight
at room temperature and then imaged. Images were processed with the
Gwyddion software. The reported particle sizes are the average of
50 nanoparticle heights. To study the morphology of polymer blend
films, 10 μL of polymer solution in CHCl₃ (polymer
concentration 10 wt %) was spin-coated on the surface of a silicon
wafer by a Convac ST 146 spin-coater (2000 rpm, 100 s) and then dried
overnight at room temperature.