A NEW TOOL FOR ADHESION SCIENCE - THE ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPE

The recently-developed Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) has been used to study the problem of adhesive failure in an elastomer/glass system. Polymeric residues have been obtained in various conditions by peeling a polyurethane film from glass plates. Their observation with nanometric resolution reveals structures which have not been detected by the usual techniques. We present typical images which emphasize the importance of the nature of the substrate and the ageing conditions. The results are discussed in relation to the nature of the interphase and the failure mechanism. Furthermore, a particular mode of use of AFM is described to illustrate the potential of this technique as a locally-resolved spectroscopic tool.