Determining Membrane Pore Structure by Atomic Force Microscopy Using a Novel Data Analysis Technique

摘要

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a promising imaging technique for visualizing membranernpore structures. Typically AFM is used for measuring surface roughness but it is less often usedrnto study membrane pore structures. In this study, a new advanced data analysis technique isrnintroduced which processes the raw data obtained from the AFM using MATLAB software. Thisrnnew technique extracts considerably more information from the raw AFM data compared to thernconventional AFM data evaluation technique. It is able to provide information on pore density,rnpore size distribution, pore cross sectional area at different pore heights, maximum and minimumrnpore dimensions at different heights, and pore symmetry. Other advantages of using the novelrndata analysis technique include unifying the parameters used for pore detection andrnmeasurement, time savings and reducing human error. A hollow fiber ultrafiltration (UF)rnmembrane was characterized using AFM with the new and the conventional data analysisrntechniques. For comparison field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) frequentlyrnused for pore size measurement was also performed. Data obtained from the AFM using thernnewly developed advanced data analysis technique are reproducible and in agreement with thernFE-SEM data.