Interfacially confined polymeric systems studied by atomic force microscopy

Within the last few years, a surface science technique, the atomic force microscopy (AFM), has evolved to be capable of simultaneously measuring tribological (friction, wear, adhesion) and rheological (elastic moduli, viscosity, hardness) properties and topography on the nanometer scale. Particularly for thin polymeric films, the AFM can be efficiently used for studying surface mechanical properties which are of fundamental importance to help predict stress and frictional behavior of interfacially confined ultrathin films. In this paper, the following aspects will be discussed: (a) mechanical properties of ultrathin homopolymer and copolymer films, (b) dewetting dynamics of interfacially confined phase-separated homopolymers, and (c) the influence of graft-copolymers on the wetting and dewetting characteristics of homopolymers.