Since its discovery in 1986 Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) and all related techniques developed in next years known as Surface Probe Microscopes (SPM) have been applied in many scientific and industrial domains. The spectrum of applications of SPM techniques is not only limited to the simple surface imaging (including imaging with molecular or atomic resolution) but may be also extended for determining the mechanical, electrical, magnetic, frictional and many other parameters of conductors, semiconductors, insulators and biological samples.

This study presents few examples of application of Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) in investigation of sol-gel materials.

Sol-gel is versatile technique commonly used in materials’ engineering allowing the fabrication of many metal oxides, composites, organic-inorganic hybrids and other materials in a form of powders, thin films, nanoparticles, fibers and porous materials.

Here, the application of AFM in imaging of chosen types of sol-gel derived materials is presented. As a first example silica nanotubes prepared with the use of various templates is shown. Another part of this study concerns the imaging of porous titania thin films prepared with surfactants or polymer beads which may serve as catalyst or photonic crystals. The last part is devoted to the imaging of organic-inorganic hybrids based on silica films containing organics.

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1. Mesoscopic objects, porous layers and nanocomposites - possibilities of sol-gel chemistry
2. Preparation and characterization of organic-inorganic nanocomposites based on dithiophosphate acids/TiO₂ systems
3. The influence of temperature, surface modification, deposition method and porosity on tribological properties of titanium dioxide thin films