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Measurement of Peptide Coating Thickness and Chemical Composition Using XPS

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Part of the Methods in Molecular Biology book series (MIMB, volume 2208)

Abstract

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is a highly surface-sensitive analytical technique, capable of providing quantitative information on the chemical composition of materials within the top ∼10 nm of their surface. For samples consisting of distinct underlayer and overlayer materials, the thickness of the coating can also be determined if it falls within this ∼10 nm information depth, which is often the case for peptide layers. Such measurements are simple to perform for flat samples and can also be performed on nanoparticulate samples provided that either the core radius or total particle radius are known. Here, we describe a straightforward protocol for obtaining such measurements from peptide coatings on both flat surfaces and nanoparticles, including preparation of nanoparticle samples from suspension, data acquisition, and analysis.

Key words

XPS Nanoparticle Peptide Coating Thickness Composition X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Measurement System of the UK Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

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© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2021

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.National Physical LaboratoryTeddingtonUK

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