Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T01:49:45.027Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Nanoindentation of Amorphous and Nanostructured Polymers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2011

Kyle C. Maner
Affiliation:
Structural and Solid Mechanics Program, Department of Civil Engineering University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904
Matthew R. Begley
Affiliation:
Structural and Solid Mechanics Program, Department of Civil Engineering University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904
Marcel Utz
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Institute for Materials ScienceUniversity of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269
Get access

Abstract

We present a detailed nanoindentation study of micron-scale thin films of polystyrene (PS), poly(phenylene oxide) (PPO), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), a metal-centered PMMA-Ruthenium block copolymer, and a PS-poly(ethylene-propylene) (PS-PEP) block copolymer with lamellar morphology. The results show that size-dependence is most readily noticeable for the lamellar PS-PEP film, indicating that the nanoidentation approach has sufficient sensitivity to capture scale dependence on scales in the range of tens of nanometers. The less pronounced scale-dependence (or lack thereof) in the other films is discussed in the context of identifying the physical length-scale of elementary processes of plastic deformation. The results indicate that the upper limit on the size of plastic shear zones in amorphous polymers is approximately 1200-9600 nm3 (i.e. a sphere with a diameter in the range of 20-40 nm).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

[1] Argon, A. S., Inelastic Deformation and Fracture of Glassy Solids, vol. 6 (Plastic Deformation and Fracture of Materials) of Materials Science and Technology, VCH: Weinheim, 1993 pp. 462508.Google Scholar
[2] Mott, P. H.; Argon, A. S.; Suter, U. W. Phil. Mag. A 1993, 67, 931978.Google Scholar
[3] Fischer-Cripps, A.C., 2002, Nanoindentation, Springer-Verlag, New York.Google Scholar
[4] Eshelby, J. D. in Progress in Solid Mechanics, Sneddon, I. N.; Hill, R., Eds., vol. 2, North Holland: Amsterdam, 1961 pp. 87140.Google Scholar
[5] Ho, J.; Govaert, L.; Utz, M., Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 2002, 734, B3.3.1 Google Scholar
[6] Fetters, L.; Lohse, D.; Richter, D.; Witten, T.; Zirkel, A. Macromolecules 1994, 27, 46394647.Google Scholar