Elastic modulus of nanostructured polymer surfaces

Living cell cultures exhibit improved adhesion on polymer surfaces engineered with nano-scale structures as compared to their flat counterparts. During fabrication their polymer-chain structure can be altered, thus affecting their mechanical properties. Here, we demonstrate using atomic-force-microscope nanoindentation that the modulus of nanostructured PDMS is doubled, while that of nanostructured ORMOCER increases by an order of magnitude, when compared to their flat counterparts.

► Mechanical properties of polymers.
► The surface had a nanostructure.
► AFM nanoindentation was employed.