Structural mechanical behavior of polystyrene films with a chemically modified surface layer

A procedure for the surface nitration of polystyrene (PS) films and subsequent complete reduction of grafted nitro groups was described. By this procedure, it was possible to prepare PS films with a thin surface layer of aminopolystyrene. During deformation, surface-modified PS films exhibited structural mechanical behavior that is characteristic of other rigid coating on compliant substrate systems: the disintegration of a rigid surface layer into fragments with almost equal dimensions and the development of a regular coating microrelief. It was shown that the thickness of aminopolystyrene surface layers could be controlled by varying the nitration reaction time and temperature. In turn, the thickness of the solid surface layer had a determining effect on the parameters of the regular microrelief.