Equilibrium capillary forces with atomic force microscopy

We present measurements of equilibrium forces resulting from capillary condensation. The results give access to the ultralow interfacial tensions between the capillary bridge and the coexisting bulk phase. We demonstrate this with solutions of associative polymers and an aqueous mixture of gelatin and dextran, with interfacial tensions around 10 mu N/m. The equilibrium nature of the capillary forces is attributed to the combination of a low interfacial tension and a microscopic confinement geometry, based on nucleation and growth arguments.