title: AFM PeakForce QNM mode: Evidencing nanometre-scale mechanical properties of chitin-silica hybrid nanocomposites.
abstract: PeakForce Quantitative Nanomechanical Mapping (QNM) AFM mode was used to explore the mechanical properties of textured chitin-silica hybrid films at the nanoscale. The influence of the force applied by the tip on the sample surface was studied for standard homogeneous samples, for chitin nanorods and for chitin-silica hybrid nanocomposites. Thick films of superimposed chitin nanorods showed a monotonous increase of DMT modulus (based on the Derjaguin-Muller-Toporov model) owing to an increase in modulus at the interface between nanorods due to geometrical constraints of the AFM acquisition. A similar variation of DMT modulus was obtained for chitin-silica hybrid thick films related to mechanical strengthening induced by the presence of silica. This work revealed the role of the organic-inorganic interface, at the nanoscale, in the mechanical behaviour of textured materials using PeakForce QNM mode, with optimized analysis conditions.
authors.affiliation: Univ Lyon, INSA Lyon, UMR CNRS 5223, IMP Ingénierie des Matériaux Polymères, F-69621 Villeurbanne, France.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Smolyakov
authors.affiliation: Univ Lyon, INSA Lyon, UMR CNRS 5223, IMP Ingénierie des Matériaux Polymères, F-69621 Villeurbanne, France. Electronic address: sebastien.pruvost@insa-lyon.fr.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pruvost
authors.affiliation: Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier, ENSCM, 34296 Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cardoso
authors.affiliation: Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier, ENSCM, 34296 Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Alonso
authors.affiliation: Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier, ENSCM, 34296 Montpellier, France; Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, F75014 Paris, France.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Belamie
authors.affiliation: Univ Lyon, INSA Lyon, UMR CNRS 5223, IMP Ingénierie des Matériaux Polymères, F-69621 Villeurbanne, France. Electronic address: jannick.duchet@insa-lyon.fr.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Duchet-Rumeau
mesh_terms: D002686:Chitin; D004548:Elasticity; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D053761:Nanocomposites / Q000737:chemistry*; D012822:Silicon Dioxide
chemical_list: D002686:Chitin; D012822:Silicon Dioxide
keywords: AFM; Chitin; Hybrid nanocomposites; Local mechanical characterization; Sol-gel process; Thin film