Rtesp probe

Aliquots (10 μL) of amyloid samples were deposited on the surface of freshly cleaved mica, washed three times with Milli-Q water, and dried with dry nitrogen. AFM images were acquired with a Multimode 8 AFM (NanoScope V Controller, Bruker, Santa Barbara, CA, USA). Tapping mode imaging was carried out in a dry nitrogen atmosphere using silicon rectangular cantilevers with rotated pyramidal tips. The etched silicon probe with rotated tip (RTESP) probe (Bruker) specifications include a nominal tip radius of 8 nm curvature, nominal cantilever spring constant k of 40 N/m, and nominal resonant frequency of 300 kHz. The AFM images were processed using commercial NanoScope Analysis software (Bruker) to remove the background slope.

The pH values of the GO sheet solutions were continuously measured using a pH meter (Accumet, Fisher Scientific, Nazareth, PA, USA). A Biolin Scientific Optical Tensiometer (Theta Lite, Nanoscience Instruments, Phoenix, AZ, USA) using OneAttension software was utilized to determine the surface tension of the GO and AGO solutions and to measure the contact angles of the dried membranes drop casted onto glass slides. Five to ten readings for each sample were collected to ensure the results were repeatable. The surface morphologies of the as-prepared GO membranes were characterized by an Olympus BX-51 Optical Microscope (OM) and a Zeiss EVO Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Surface roughness values were calculated from atomic force microscope (AFM) images obtained using a Veeco Dimension V scanning probe microscope equipped with a Bruker RTESP probe. Elemental analysis was implemented to confirm the addition of Al to the membranes and to determine the membrane oxygen/carbon ratio using Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS). Infrared (FTIR) spectra of the membranes were taken using a Nicolet iS5 FTIR Spectrometer. UV-visible measurements were carried out using a Diode Array Spectrophotometer (HP-8453). The X-ray photoelectron (XRD) spectra were recorded using a Rigaku SmartLab X-ray Diffractometer with Al Kα (1486.6 eV, λ = 0.15418 nm) as the X-ray source.

Ectocarpus cells were boiled twice in 1% SDS, 0.1 M EDTA and then treated with a solution of 0.5 M KOH at 100 °C. Pellet was rinsed extensively with MilliQ water and dried on a glass slide. Imaging was performed on dried samples. A Veeco Bioscope catalyst atomic force microscope coupled with a Zeiss inverted fluorescent microscope was used for imaging. RTESP probes (Bruker) were used in Scanasyst mode.