Surface Force Measurement Solutions, Training, and Research
Surface Forces Apparatus Users
Our Systems
SFA Systems
Our Surface Forces Apparatus (SFA) systems combined with multiple-beam interferometry can measure forces (static- equilibrium or dynamic- non-equilibrium) between two surfaces in vapors or liquids with a sensitivity of a few nN and a distance resolution of 1Å (0.1 nm).
FAFA Systems
Our Fiber Adhesion and Friction Apparatus (FAFA) can measure the surface forces between two fibers (10s um in diameter) or between a fiber and a surface with a sensitivity of a few uN.
FAFA 2020
FIBER ADHESION AND FRICTION APPARATUS
The FAFA 2020 system is SurForce’s newest surface forces measurement system. The system is custom designed to rapidly perform fiber adhesion and friction measurements utilizing high-rate imaging techniques. The system includes an optical table, dedicated high-frame rate video acquisition computer hosting a user-friendly MATLAB GUI for data acquisition and reduction and an enclosure outfitted with humidity & temperature sensing.
μSFA
The μSFA, or micro-SFA, is a new, compact, microscope-ready SFA for measuring the normal forces between surfaces and other interfacial phenomena. The compact chamber accommodates typical short focal length, large diameter, objectives needed for fluorescence, confocal and other common high magnification microscopy techniques.
NEW ATTACHMENTS
The Electrochemcial, or EC-μSFA. Piezoelectric Top Mount hosts our standard surfaces as well as a large 14MM DIA surface for easier management of the working electrode (WE). The uSFA chamber supports similar three electrode feedthroughs for reference (RE), working (WE) and counter (CE) electrodes as our SFA2000 EC-SFA system.
Bimorph Slider. The μSFA Bimorph Slider (3-BS) attachment supports lateral force actuation for the lower SFA surface, similar to the same attachment for the SFA2000 systems but scaled for the smaller μSFA chamber.
SFA 2000
The SFA 2000 is our full-featured configurable SFA offering the imposition and measurement of both normal and shear forces. Friction configurations (FD-SFA) support 1D and 2D friction sensing and load sensing using either metal-film, or high-sensitivity semiconducting, strain gauging.
What’s New
| In this work, our friends in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Alberta, use a SurForce LLC Surface Forces Apparatus (SFA), model SFA2000, to directly measure the surface and interfacial interactions between protein coatings (force curve shown) and model foulants, suggesting that conjugated protein BSA@MPC shows weak interactions with foulants accounting for its exceptional antifouling performance. Findings explore protein-based functional materials for various applications, such as molecule and virus detection, environmental monitoring, sensing, and interfacial antifouling mechanisms providing insights for designing novel antifouling surfaces for the marine, food, and biomedical industries. Measurements described are possible using either the SurForce SFA 2000 or uSFA systems. |
Client’s Testimonials
"The SFA technique is the gold standard for measuring forces between surfaces.”
Professor Tonya Kuhl
"I don't know of another technique that can simultaneously measure surface forces, absolute surface separation and provide direct visualization of the contact area to unequivocally determine the surface energy.”
Dr. Matthew Tirrell
"The SurForce team is very helpful in achieving our research needs. I am looking forward to acquiring the new uSFA to complement our SFA 2000."
Professor Dong-Woog Lee
"The SFA is critical to our research needs. The SurForce Team provided us with an SFA turn-key system greatly simplifying our procurement and continues to support system customization through insightful and comprehensive engineering design services."
Dr. Jing Yu
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