High-Throughput Tensile Tester for Ultrathin Crosslinked Polymer Films

Thin polymer films exhibit unique properties due to their exceedingly thin dimensions. However, characterizing these materials is challenging due to the limited availability of instrumentation capable of testing these fragile films. Here, we develop a new high-throughput tensile tester specifically designed to test multiple freestanding polymer thin films. Using this instrument, we directly quantify the stress-strain relationship of 2 µm thick crosslinked polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as a function of crosslinking density. We measure the elastic modulus and yield stress as a function of crosslinking density. These results provide new fundamental insights into how polymer behavior is altered due to changes in the crosslinking in a thin polymer film.