Atomic force microscopy study of polypropylene+Fe based polymer nanocomposites

In this study, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) was employed to analyze the surface morphology, structural features, and nanoparticle distribution in nanocomposites based on isotactic polypropylene and iron nanoparticles.Isotactic polypropylene was dissolved in toluene at 120C, and iron nanoparticles were added at various volume fractions (0.1; 0.3; 0.5; 1; 2; 5%).The solution was stirred for one hour to ensure homogeneity, then poured into petri dishes and air-dried throughout the day.Further drying was carried out in a vacuum oven for 3-4 hours to eliminate residual solvent.The dried samples were hot-pressed at the melting temperature of polypropylene under 10 MPa to form thin films, which were rapidly cooled in water at 200 C/min.Morphological characterization was performed using an Integra-Prima AFM (NT-MDT, Zelenograd) equipped with plasma-etched silicon cantilevers having a tip curvature radius of 20 nm and a resonance frequency of 1-5 Hz.Measurements were conducted in semi-contact mode in air, with a scan size of 55 m, 256 scan lines, and scanning frequency of 1,969 Hz.AFM analysis revealed that the nanoparticle size within the polymer matrix increases with higher iron content, significantly influencing the supermolecular structure and thus the physical properties of the composite.These findings highlight the critical role of nanoparticle concentration in tailoring the morphology and performance of isotactic polypropylene-based nanocomposites for advanced applications