Nanoscope iiia

A total of 105 titanium disks, directly provided by the manufacturer (MEGAGEN Co. Ltd., South Korea), measuring 8 and 13 mm in diameter and 3 mm in thickness were used in this study. Three different titanium surfaces were investigated: machined (MCH), sandblasted with resorbable blasting medium (RBM), and sandblasted with a Ca⁺⁺-incorporated nanolayer (NCA). The treatment processes are hold by the manufacturer. Surface morphology was qualitatively evaluated using a scanning electron microscope (EVO MA 10, Carl Zeiss, Oberkochen, DE) working at 25 keV. At the same time, surface chemistry was analyzed by using an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDX). Furthermore, surface roughness was assessed using an atomic force microscope (Nanoscope IIIa, Veeco, Plainview, USA); then, roughness average (Ra) and roughness peak-to-valley (Rpv) parameters were obtained. Ra measures the average surface roughness considering the peaks and the valley means. The Rpv describes the maximum observed range in a sample area, and it is given by the distance between the highest peak and the lowest valley on a measured surface.

A small volume (20 μL) of MPG1 solution in water (5 μg/mL) was placed onto a freshly cleaved HOPG surface and allowed to dry overnight at room temperature free from dust. The sample was then imaged using a Veeco Nanoscope IIIa (Veeco, USA) operating in tapping mode under ambient conditions. A silicon cantilever (BudgetSensors, Innovative Solutions Bulgaria) with a free resonance frequency of 300 kHz, spring constant of ~40 N/m and tip radius under 10 nm was used for sample imaging.

Contact angle (CA) measurements were executed in static sessile drop mode with an OCA20 device (Dataphysics Instruments GmbH, Filderstadt, Germany). A 10µL volume of deionized water was placed on polymer-modified Si wafers at a flow rate of 1 µL/s. Five drops were applied on each sample. Temperature-dependent measurements were performed either at room temperature (23 °C) or at 40° C with tempering time of 15min, respectively.
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was performed in tapping mode with Nanoscope IIIa, Dimension 3100 (Veeco, Plainview, NY, USA). Operation in air was used to control homogeneity and roughness of the surfaces after preparation and after pre-treatment at different pH. Tips of the type BSTap (Budget Sensors, Sofia, Bulgaria) with a resonance frequency of 300 kHz and a spring constant of 40 N/m were used.

High-resolution imaging of bilayers was obtained by AFM after transferring them from the air/water interface to a solid oxidized silicon substrate. Mixed bilayers from the Langmuir trough were transferred onto oxidized silicon substrates at the desired Wilhelmy pressure. Bilayers transferred to substrates were imaged using the NanoScopeIIIa scanning probe microscope controller (Veeco Instruments Inc., Plainview, NY, USA) in tapping mode under ambient conditions. Aluminum probes (Budget Sensors BS Multi 75Al, Innovative Solutions Bulgaria Ltd., Sofia, Bulgaria) were used. Resonance frequency of the probe was 75 kHz, and the force constant was 3 N m^-1. Images in height mode were collected simultaneously with 256 × 256 points at a scanning rate of 1.0 Hz per line. A series of AFM images were taken from different perspectives.

UV-visible absorption spectra of pristine samples were recorded using a dual beam spectrophotometer (Hitachi U3300). To investigate the surface morphology, plane-view images were obtained using field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM, MIRA II LMH). Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) was employed using energy dispersive X-ray detector (INCA PentaFET3) attached with FESEM. Atomic force microscope (AFM, Veeco: Nano Scope IIIa) with SiN tips (nominal tip radius of <10 nm) was used to investigate the grown nanostructures under ambient conditions. In IR region (400–4000 cm⁻¹), spectroscopic measurements of the pristine and irradiated Ag thin films were carried out using the Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer (FTIR, PERKIN ELMER Bx). The Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) was performed using 1.7 MV 5SDH-2 Pelletron (Tandem) accelerator with 2 MeV He⁺ ion beam.