The rheology of thin polystyrene films

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Abstract
The interfacial shear strength of a polymer may conveniently be measured by confining a thin film in a sliding elastically deforming contact. The shear strength, defined as the frictional force per unit sheared area, is a measure of the energy dissipation in the film although it implies no particular mechanism. In this paper the shear strength is investigated as a function of both contact pressure and temperature for atactic and isotactic polystyrenes. The thin films have been cast from various solvents accompanied by a range of heat treatments. The data indicate that the casting solvent and the thermal history have a greater influence on the interfacial shear strength than the molecular architecture. The use of friction measurements to probe polymer-solvent interactions is discussed.