Determination of Surface Functionalities of Micro- and Nanoparticle Modified Polymers

Common material properties (e.g. hardness, tensile modulus and strength, poisson's ratio) are well known. On the other hand, properties of thin layers and micro volumina can differ significant from those data, in particular for micro/nano-particle systems. AFM and FFM methods work with excellent lateral, topographic and force resolution but often do not provide testing-situations close to practical applications, e.g. high pressure flat contact within micro wear and micro friction investigations. Optimization of friction/wear-properties of multi micro-area contact especially of relevance on curved and topographically structured surfaces need access to measurement technique, that covers the gap between micro and nano scale [3]. The results presented here are done with the UST (Universal Surface Tester) [4] to determine the influence of incorporation of micro/nano-particles and their distribution on micro mechanical and functional properties of polymer materials close to the surface.