Epoxy nanoscopic

The advent of the atomic force microscope has allowed surface properties at nearly molecular length scales to be measured directly for the first time. Recently, a method has been proposed whereby a small ( 3.5 /nn) particle is attached to the cantilever tip of the commercially available, Nanoscope II AFM [67,68]. The particles are attached with an epoxy resin. When the cantilever tip is placed close to a planar surface, the AFM measures directly the interaction force between the particle and the surface. A primary difference between this technique and the surface forces apparatus (SFA) is the size of the substrates, since the SFA generally requires smooth surfaces approximately 2 cm in diameter. Other differences are discussed by Ducker et al. [68]. For our purposes, it suffices to note that the AFM method explicitly incorporates the particle-wall geometry that is the focus of this chapter. 

As in the case of other material systems, the macroscopic properties of nanocomposites are driven by their micro-/nanoscopic structure. From an electrical insulation perspective, polyethylene (PE) and epoxy resins constitute two technologically important material systems, each of which embodies in very different ways, a great deal of structural complexity. In the case of PE, the constituent molecules are the result of the inherently statistical polymerisation process, which can ultimately result in the formation of a hierarchical morphology in which different molecular fractions become segregated to specific morphological locations. In an epoxy resin, the epoxy monomer chemistry, the hardener and the stoichiometry can all be varied, to affect the network structure that evolves. In the case of nanocomposites, another layer of structural hierarchy is then overlaid upon and interacts with the inherent characteristics of the host matrix. 

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