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Viscoelastic Properties of Confined Polymer Films Measured via Thermal Wrinkling
Published
Author(s)
Kirt A. Page, Edwin Chan, Se Hyuk Im, Derek L. Patton, Rui Huang, Christopher Stafford
Abstract
We present a new measurement technique to quantify the viscoelastic properties of polymer thin films. This approach utilizes thermally-induced surface wrinkling to measure the rubbery modulus and shear viscosity of polymer thin films. Specifically, by applying a thermal stress to a polymer film that is capped with a metal thin film, we can infer the rubbery modulus and shear viscosity of the polymer film through the time-evolved wrinkle wavelength and amplitude. This technique can be extended to probe the viscoelastic properties of nanocomposite films as well as the effect of confinement on the ultrathin polymer films.
Page, K.
, Chan, E.
, Im, S.
, Patton, D.
, Huang, R.
and Stafford, C.
(2009),
Viscoelastic Properties of Confined Polymer Films Measured via Thermal Wrinkling, Soft Matter, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=901940
(Accessed October 11, 2025)