Elastic properties of polystyrene nanospheres evaluated with atomic force microscopy: size effect and error analysis.

The mechanical properties of polystyrene (PS) nanospheres of ca. 50-1000 nm in diameter were evaluated by using an atomic force microscope (AFM). The compressive elastic moduli of individual nanospheres were obtained by analyzing the AFM force-displacement curves on the basis of the Hertz and JKR contact theories. The results showed that the elastic moduli of PS nanospheres of different sizes were in the range of 2-8 GPa. The elastic modulus of PS nanospheres increased with the decrease of the sphere diameter, especially when the diameter was less than 200 nm. The measurement errors due to tip wear and the deformation at the bottom of the sphere were analyzed. Mechanisms for the size dependence on the elastic modulus of PS nanospheres were also discussed.