Nanoscale mechanical properties of polymers irradiated by UV

The application of depth sensing nanoindentation to determine mechanical properties of three different polymers is described in this work using three different techniques to calibrate the measurement system. The nano-hardness and the elastic indentation modulus of polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene oxide and polyacrylic acid were inferred from nanomechanical tests, and the influence of ultraviolet irradiation on the mechanical properties of measured polymers is studied. A multicycling test—a sequence of several loading and unloading procedures—allowed the measurement of changes in the sample viscoelasticity. The nano-hardness of the polymers is shown to increase with radiation dose while the viscoelasticity decreases.