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Atomic Force Microscopy of Polymer/ L ayered Silicate Nanocomposites ( PLSN s): A Brief Overview
Author(s) -
Adhikari Rameshwar
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
macromolecular symposia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-3900
pISSN - 1022-1360
DOI - 10.1002/masy.201350501
Subject(s) - materials science , polymer , thermosetting polymer , nanocomposite , silicate , crystallinity , characterization (materials science) , atomic force microscopy , nanometre , polymer nanocomposite , composite material , morphology (biology) , nanotechnology , chemical engineering , biology , engineering , genetics
Summary Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been used frequently in polymer research in particular for imaging topography and phase morphology of multi‐component systems. In this work, we review the application of different techniques of the AFM for the structural characterization of polymer layered silicate nanocomposites (PLSNs) with various classes of polymers (such as glassy and semicrystalline polymers, thermosetting resins etc.) as matrix. We demonstrate that AFM can be conveniently used to image not only the morphology of the composites materials with nanometer resolution but also to gain insight into their nanomechanical properties.