Nanoscale Thermal Analysis / Transition Temperature Mapping

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Polis Tyrol Posted: Wed, May 15 2013 3:39 AM

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Dear community,

I am interested in measuring glass-transition temperature (Tg) distributions at the nanoscale. However, so far I don't know if there are indeed different transition temperatures in the material. For that reason, I would like to do some quick-and-dirty measurements to obtain Tg images without yet purchasing the Nanoscale Thermal Analysis hardware. Here is what it thought might work:

I was wondering if it is possible to map the transition temperatures in usual PeakForce Tapping mode by simply imaging the same area at different temperatures. Let's say I measure one and the same area of a surface (e.g. 5x5 µm) in steps of 5 °C from e.g. 100 to 150 °C. If there are different transition temperatures I should see the modulus dropping at different temperatures as well. Like that it should be possible to obtain a map of Tg's without installing a new hardware and at the resolution of normal PeakForce Tapping mode. Is there any problem about this approach? Could it be worth trying?

Best regards, Dietmar Haba

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replied on Wed, May 15 2013 10:23 AM

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Hi Dietmar,

That should work. You will of course give up the advantage of heating only a small area of the sample an not affecting the surroundings. As a quick screening test your planned experiments should suffice.

Stefan

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Polis Tyrol replied on Wed, May 15 2013 10:43 AM

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Dear Stefan,

Thanks again for your helpful advice. I'm okay with that. If I can see differences strong enough to be measued I will think about the professional methodology.

Best regards, Dietmar Haba