Langmuir, Vol.22, No.5, 2136-2140, 2006
Lubrication theory of drag on a scanning probe in structured water, near a hydrophilic surface
The drag is evaluated, in lubrication theory, on a parabolic-cylindrical tip moving parallel to a flat sample, in water, close enough that the presumed nanometer-thick, Structured-water, "interphase" coatings of both it and the sample C overlap. Assuming coatings of width, w, and of viscosity, eta, much larger than bulk water's, the friction force is predicted to equal -2 pi eta cR Phi(D/2w), where R is the tip's radius of curvature, c is its Speed, D is the tip-sample separation, and (Phi) is a universal function whose value only differs noticeably from 1n(2w/D) for D < w.