News

Tensile versus AFM Testing of Electrospun PVA Nanofibers: Bridging the Gap from Microscale to Nanoscale
Benedikt R. Neugirg, Matthias Burgard, Andreas Greiner, Andreas Fery JOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE, PART B: POLYMER PHYSICS, 2016, 54 (23), 2418-2424.

Design and application of mechanically extraordinary nanofibers requires their full comprehension, based on conclusive testing methods. Electrospun polymer nanofibers, for instance, show a progressive and pronounced increase in their Young's moduli when diameters decrease below the µm scale. Measurement of mechanical properties in this diameter range is challenging and in the vast majority of reports, two classes of methods are commonly used: highly sensitive tensile testing and atomic force microscopy three-point deformation testing. Despite the methods' inherent dissimilarity, we resolve their conformity for the first time, with respect to the determination of Young's moduli. Here, we benchmark them against each other for electrospun polyvinyl-alcohol nanofibers, a well-defined model system. Our results provide an experimental basis for a comprehensive understanding of nanofiber structures and its implications on their mechanical properties.