Friction force measurements of electron beam-cured polyurethane acrylate films by scanning probe microscopy

In this study, Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) was employed to determine the micro-scale friction force of silicone-treated polymer film surface. Polyurethane acrylates cured by an electron beam (EB) were utilized as polymer films. The micro-scale friction force obtained by SPM was compared with macro-scale data, such as surface free energy determined by the Owens-Wendt method and macro-scale friction coefficient determined by the ASTM method. These comparisons showed that a good linear relationship existed between the surface free energy and the friction force, which was insensitive to the nature of polymer specimens or to the silicone-treatment methods. Good linearity was also observed between the macro-scale and the micro-scale friction force. We conclude that SPM will become a powerful tool in this field of polymer science.