How strong is a covalent bond

Michel Grandbois, Martin Beyer, Matthias Rief, Hauke Clausen-Schaumann, Hermann E. Gaub

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

932 Scopus citations

Abstract

The rupture force of single covalent bonds under an external load was measured with an atomic force microscope (AFM). Single polysaccharide molecules were covalently anchored between a surface and an AFM tip and then stretched until they became detached. By using different surface chemistries for the attachment, it was found that the silicon-carbon bond ruptured at 2.0 ± 0.3 nanonewtons, whereas the sulfur-gold anchor ruptured at 1.4 ± 0.3 nanonewtons at force-loading rates of 10 nanonewtons per second. Bond rupture probability caLcuLations that were based on density functional theory corroborate the measured values.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1727-1730
Number of pages4
JournalScience
Volume283
Issue number5408
DOIs
StatePublished - 12 Mar 1999
Externally publishedYes

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