Probing viscoelastic properties of a thin polymer film sheared between a beads layer and quartz crystal resonator

TL;DR

This study introduces a method using quartz crystal resonators to measure the viscoelastic properties of thin polymer films at MHz frequencies, revealing bulk-like behavior in confined nanoscale layers.

Contribution

It demonstrates a novel, practical approach for probing the rheological properties of thin polymer films in ambient conditions using quartz resonators.

Findings

Viscoelastic properties of 10-100 nm films measured at MHz frequencies.

Thin films exhibit shear modulus and viscosity similar to bulk polymers.

Quartz resonator method is effective for ambient environment measurements.

Abstract

We report measurements of viscoelastic properties of thin polymer films of 10-100 nm at the MHz range. These thin films are confined between a quartz crystal resonator and a millimetric bead layer, producing an increase of both resonance frequency and dissipation of the quartz resonator. The shear modulus and dynamic viscosity of thin films extracted from these measurements are consistent with the bulk values of the polymer. This modified quartz resonator provides an easily realizable and effective tool for probing the rheological properties of thin films at ambient environment.