Increase of the roughness of the stainless-steel anode surface due to the exposure to high-voltage electric pulses as revealed by atomic force microscopy

The changes of the stainless-steel electrode surface morphology occurring due to dissolution of the anode under the action of electric pulses which are commonly utilized in cell electromanipulation procedures, have been studied by using atomic force microscopy. The surface of the polished electrode was rather smooth — the average roughness was 13–17 nm and the total roughness 140–180 nm. After the treatment of the chamber filled with 154 mM NaCl solution to a series of short (about 20 μs), high-voltage (4 kV) pulses, the roughness of the surface of the anode has increased, depending on the total amount of the electric charge that has passed through the unit area of the electrode, and exceeded 400 nm for the dissolution charge of 0.24 A s/cm2. No changes of the cathode surface were detected. Well-defined peaks with the width of 1–2 μm and the height of over 400 nm have appeared. These peaks create local enhancements of the electric field at the interface between the solution and the electrode surface which can lead to the non-homogeneity treatment of cells by electric pulses and can facilitate the occurrence of the electrical breakdown of the liquid samples.