title: In situ tensile testing of nanofibers by combining atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy.
abstract: A nanomechanical testing set-up is developed by integrating an atomic force microscope (AFM) for force measurements with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to provide imaging capabilities. Electrospun nanofibers of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), nylon-6 and biological mineralized collagen fibrils (MCFs) from antler bone were manipulated and tensile-tested using the AFM-SEM set-up. The complete stress-strain behavior to failure of individual nanofibers was recorded and a diversity of mechanical properties observed, highlighting how this technique is able to elucidate mechanical behavior due to structural composition at nanometer length scales.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials, School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hang
authors.forename: Dun
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Russell J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.forename: Ines
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Jimenez-Palomar
authors.forename: Urszula
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Stachewicz
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cortes-Ballesteros
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zech
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bödefeld
authors.forename: Asa H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Barber
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002209:Caprolactam / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000737:chemistry; D003670:Deer; D024022:Fibrillar Collagens / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure; D007368:Interferometry; D007834:Lasers; D008422:Materials Testing / Q000379:methods*; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force / Q000379:methods*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol / Q000737:chemistry; D013718:Tensile Strength
chemical_list: D024022:Fibrillar Collagens; D011108:Polymers; C009916:nylon 6; D002209:Caprolactam; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol