AFM Nanomechanics for Polymer Physics

Atomic force microscope (AFM)-based nano-mechanics [1] is a powerful tool to investigate a wide variety of topics in polymer science and technology, which gives maps of Young's mod-ulus, adhesion etc. at nano-scale resolution. In this presentation, some selected topics will be reviewed, which include: Heterogeneous stress formation of filled rubber materials upon mechanical stimuli [2]; Visualization of dynamic stress network formed in block-copolymer based thermoplastic elastomers [3]; Sub-surface information detected by AFM nanomechanics and its validation with transmission electron tomography (TEMT) [4]; State-of-the-art techniques such as nano-scale viscoelastic measurement based on AFM [5].