Imagine you are playing with a Lego set, and you need to attach two Lego pieces together. You can use your hands to press the Lego pieces together, but sometimes they won't stick well. However, if you use a special glue that reacts with the pieces to create a strong bond, they will stick together perfectly.
Electrochemical AFM works in a similar way, where we have tiny particles called molecules that we want to study. However, instead of using glue, we use a tiny needle that can probe the molecules and create a chemical reaction.
The needle is like a little robot arm that can move up and down, and back and forth like a robotic hand. We can control this needle with a computer, and we can make it attach or touch the molecules we want to study. When the needle touches the molecule, it creates a chemical reaction.
This chemical reaction helps us understand more about the molecule, its shape, and its properties. It's like taking a fingerprint of the molecule, so we can identify it.
Overall, electrochemical AFM is a technique that scientists use to study molecules by probing them with a tiny needle that creates a chemical reaction. It helps us understand the properties of molecules and their shapes, which is helpful in chemistry and biology research.