Nanotechnology measurements of the Young’s modulus of polymeric materials

Making use of atomic force microscopy (AFM) —known as the state-of-the-art technology for handling matter on an atomic and molecular scale—, this paper describes the use of a nanotechnology technique for characterizing properties of polymeric materials. AFM measurement on two materials (polyamide and polystyrene) allowed to compare the performance of two distinct multi-asperity adhesion models based on the JKR (Johnson-Kendall-Robert) and DMT (Derajaguin-Muller-Toporov) theories, when assessing the Young’s Modulus (modulus of elasticity) of the investigated materials. Experimental results confirm that the JKR model processed through a MatLab algorithm produces more reliable results of the Young’s Modulus than the DMT model built-in in the AFM software.