Effect of microstructures of PVDF on surface adhesive forces

This research studies the effects of microstructures of poly vinylidene fluoride (PVDF) on its adhesion force with the probe of an atomic force microscope (AFM). The adhesion problem is currently a bottleneck for the development of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). Understanding the surface adhesion mechanisms is an important step to advance MEMS technology. In the present work, we fabricated PVDF thinfilms using spin casting and in situ corona poling methods. The microstructure was thus changed from α to the mixture of β and γ phases. Surface forces were then evaluated using an AFM. It was found that the adhesion forces between the AFM probe and the polymer surfaces were affected by microstructures. This article discusses details of our findings.