Microscopic strain mapping in polymers equipped with non-covalent mechanochromic motifs
Hanna Traeger, Derek J. Kiebala, Céline Calviño, Yoshimitsu Sagara, Stephen Schrettl, Christoph Weder, Jess M. Clough
Abstract
The mechanical failure of polymers remains challenging to understand and predict, as it often involves highly localised phenomena that cannot be probed with bulk characterisation techniques. Here, we present a generalisable protocol based on optical microscopy, tensile testing, and image processing that permits the spatially resolved interrogation of mechanical deformation at the molecular level around defects in mechanophore-containing polymers. The approach can be applied to a broad range of polymeric materials, mechanophores, and deformation scenarios.
Topics & Concepts
Materials sciencePolymerDeformation (meteorology)NanotechnologyUltimate tensile strengthOptical microscopeComposite materialScanning electron microscopeForce Microscopy Techniques and ApplicationsMechanical and Optical ResonatorsOptical measurement and interference techniques