Systematical studies on the impact of the thickness of thin films composed of polystyrene (PS) or poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) on the effective elasticity of polymer-decorated soft polydimethylsiloxane substrate were performed. For both investigated polymer films, elasticity parameter was determined from force-displacement curves recorded using atomic force microscopy. Effective stiffness of supported film grows monotonically with film thickness, starting from the value comparable to the elasticity of soft support and reaching plateau for polymer layers thicker than 200 nm. In contrary, for films cast on hard support no significant thickness dependence of elasticity was observed and the value of elasticity parameter was similar to the one of the substrate. Based on these results, non-conventional method to produce elasticity patterns of various shapes and dimensions induced by phase-separation process in symmetric and asymmetric PS:PEO blend films on soft support was demonstrated. Elevated PS domains were characterized by elasticity parameter 2 times higher than lower PEO matrix. In contrary, adhesion force was increased more than 3 times for PEO regions, as compared to PS areas.
Keywords: Elasticity patterns; Phase separation; Poly(ethylene oxide); Polydimethylsiloxane; Polymer blend; Polystyrene; Thickness-dependent elasticity; Thin films.