Overview literature on atomic force microscopy (AFM): Basics and its important applications for polymer characterization (original) (raw)
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Recent Applications of Advanced Atomic Force Microscopy in Polymer Science: A Review
Polymers, 2020
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been extensively used for the nanoscale characterization of polymeric materials. The coupling of AFM with infrared spectroscope (AFM-IR) provides another advantage to the chemical analyses and thus helps to shed light upon the study of polymers. This paper reviews some recent progress in the application of AFM and AFM-IR in polymer science. We describe the principle of AFM-IR and the recent improvements to enhance its resolution. We also discuss the latest progress in the use of AFM-IR as a super-resolution correlated scanned-probe infrared spectroscopy for the chemical characterization of polymer materials dealing with polymer composites, polymer blends, multilayers, and biopolymers. To highlight the advantages of AFM-IR, we report several results in studying the crystallization of both miscible and immiscible blends as well as polymer aging. Finally, we demonstrate how this novel technique can be used to determine phase separation, spherulitic str...
Recent Progressive Use of Advanced Atomic Force Microscopy in Polymer Science: A Review
2020
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been extensively used for the nanoscale characterization of polymeric materials. The coupling of AFM with infrared spectroscope (AFM-IR) provides another advantage to the chemical analyses and thus helps to shed light upon the study of polymers. In this perspective paper, we review recent progress in the use of AFM-IR in polymer science. We describe first the principle of AFM-IR and the recent improvements to enhance its resolution. We discuss then the last progress in the use of AFM-IR as a super-resolution correlated scanned-probe IR spectroscopy for chemical characterization of polymer materials dealing with polymer composites, polymer blends, multilayers and biopolymers. To highlight the advantages of AFM-IR, we report here several results in studying crystallization of both miscible and immiscible blends as well as polymer aging. Then, we demonstrate how this novel technique can be used to determine phase separation, spherulitic structure and c...
Atomic force microscopy on polymers and polymer related compounds
Polymer Bulletin, 1991
Results of Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) on carbon fibers from polyacrylonitrile and pitch are presented in comparison with Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) images, Single fiber surfaces and their crosssections have been imaged on scales from microns to nanometers. Morphological details beyond the resolution of SEM were revealed by AFM and STM. Grain-type structure was verified on surface of numerous nanofibriis oriented along the main fiber direction. Grains are bigger on pitch-based fibers generally, and on fibers of both types after treatment at higher temperatures. In the atomic scale AFM images traces of graphitic structure were recorded. AFM artefacts on rough surfaces are demonstrated. 9 A, B: AFM images of T300 and M40 fibers 9 C , D: STM images of T300 and M40 fibers
Feature Article: Atomic Force Microscopy: Applications in the Plastics Industry
Polymer News, 2005
The relatively recent invention of atomic force microscopy (AFM) in the early 1980s has proven to be a boon for the characterization of polymers in the plastics industry. Polymer surface morphology can be characterized at high magnification and resolution by AFM, which is an excellent complimentary technique to the electron microscopy (EM) techniques, such as scanning electron (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). AFM has rapidly increased in applications to polymer characterization and has distinguished itself as a primary technique for such characterization. AFM has been especially effective in the characterization of all types of fabricated polymer articles, such as films, injection and blow moldings, etc., and has proven especially effective for characterizing multi-phase polymer systems. One aspect of the AFM technique, in comparison to the electron microscopies, is the ease of sample preparation. AFM requires little or no sample preparation and preserves sample structure, whereas SEM and TEM, typically, require much more sample preparation, which often destroys or modifies sample structure in the process. AFM has the attribute of directness of observation and, therefore, reveals structural features of natural surfaces or cross-sections of fabricated polymer articles, which are often difficult to observe by the electron microscopies, due to the necessity of more extensive sample preparation. The AFM technique also has the advantage of independently providing information both on the in-plane, as well as the height, features of a surface. This article describes aspects of the AFM technique relative to basic principles, sample preparation, morphology of polymers, comparison to the EM techniques and characterization of fabricated plastics.
Quantitative Nano-characterization of Polymers Using Atomic Force Microscopy
Chimia, 2017
The present article offers an overview on the use of atomic force microscopy (AFM) to characterize the nanomechanical properties of polymers. AFM imaging reveals the conformations of polymer molecules at solid- liquid interfaces. In particular, for polyelectrolytes, the effect of ionic strength on the conformations of molecules can be studied. Examination of force versus extension profiles obtained using AFM-based single molecule force spectroscopy gives information on the entropic and enthalpic elasticities in pN to nN force range. In addition, single molecule force spectroscopy can be used to trigger chemical reactions and transitions at the molecular level when force-sensitive chemical units are embedded in a polymer backbone.
Mechanical characterization of polymeric thin films by atomic force microscopy based techniques
Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 2012
Polymeric thin films have been awakening continuous and growing interest for application in nanotechnology. For such applications, the assessment of their (nano)mechanical properties is a key issue, since they may dramatically vary between the bulk and the thin film state, even for the same polymer. Therefore, techniques are required for the in situ characterization of mechanical properties of thin films that must be nondestructive or only minimally destructive. Also, they must also be able to probe nanometer-thick ultrathin films and layers and capable of imaging the mechanical properties of the sample with nanometer lateral resolution, since, for instance, at these scales blends or copolymers are not uniform, their phases being separated. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been proposed as a tool for the development of a number of techniques that match such requirements. In this review, we describe the state of the art of the main AFM-based methods for qualitative and quantitative single-point measurements and imaging of mechanical properties of polymeric thin films, illustrating their specific merits and limitations.
Atomic Force Microscopy of Polymer Brushes: Insights into Controversies
Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering
Atomic force microscopes (AFM) and nanoindenters have been used for decades to evaluate mechanical properties of thin films at the nanoscale. It is argued that the elastic solutions to the indentation problem, which are most often associated with the names of Galin or Sneddon, may be used for extracting elastic contact modulus of bulk samples and continual films, while their application to contact between an AFM probe and a polymer brush is a priori questionable. This is because the character of compression of a polymer brush is drastically different from the response of an elastic half-space to indentation. In the present paper, a number of controversial issues related to the interpretation of the AFM data obtained for polymer brushes tested with a rigid probe are studied. In particular, a correct relation has been established between the constitutive equation for a single polymer brush in compression with a bare rigid surface and the constitutive equation for two identical polymer...
Thin Solid Films, 1996
The techniques of scanning force microscopy have been successfully used to investigate phase-separated polymer surfaces on a nanometer scale and been proved to be of great advantage in surface characterization studies of polymers. We observed two kinds of phase-separated surfaces of polystyrene (PS)-polyethylene oxide (PEO) blend film and injection molded crystalline engineering polymer (acetal resin)elastomer blend plate. In the local mechanical property measurement of the PS-PEO samples, PEO domains were found to be softer and show higher friction force than PS domains with the lateral resolution of less than 100 nm. The results agree qualitatively with those of the bulk. In the local friction measurement of the acetal resin-elastomer blend plate, the surface showed stripe structures 100-300 nm wide: the lower friction region corresponds to acetal resin and the higher one to elastomer. However, in the local elasticity measurement, the difference between the two could not be detected presumably due to the subsurface effect.