Nanoscale near-surface deformation in polymer nanocomposites

The objective of the study is to understand the nanoscale near-surface deformation response of two polymer nanocomposite systems with significant differences in ductility during nanoscratching with a Berkovich indenter using a load of 1 mN and a scratch velocity of 1 μm s−1. An accompanying objective is to investigate the commonality in surface deformation behavior between nano- and microscale deformation to reinforce the underlying fundamental...