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Nano-scale temperature dependent visco-elastic properties of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) using atomic force microscope (AFM)

This study is one of the first investigations of visco-elastic temperature effects at nanometer spatial resolutions. The development of these techniques is important for understanding the behaviour of polymer nanocomposites, both during processing and application. While this study concerns an unfilled polymer, this provides the mechanical profile necessary to explore the effect of nano-particulate additions, which is a current area of investigation. The combination of AFM with differential scanning calorimetry allows mechanical changes due to crystallisation to be understood. Again, the properties of the crystalline phase at processing and application temperatures is an area of current research