Nanoindentation, Scratch, and

Introduction
As plastics and plastic composites are
placed into service in more demanding
applications, surface modifi cations are
performed to enhance the durability and
increase service life. Commonly, hard
coatings are used on display screens to
prevent damage; for example, coatings
are applied to cellular telephone display
screens to prevent scratching while the
phone is placed in a pocket with keys
and other sharp objects. Other surface
modifi cations are made to increase
adhesion of multilayered systems,
create fade resistant properties, or
to increase fl exibility. In this article,
polymer fi lms with different surface
treatments are characterized through
nanoindentation, scratch testing,
and elevated temperature testing.
Major differences in the indentation
and scratch results are shown for the
coated samples. In addition, the results
for elastic modulus and hardness at
elevated temperatures are supplied on
four different cellulose fi lms.