Nanoindentation of Silica Colloid Thin Films Sintered at Various Temperatures

Abstract

A Hysitron nanoindentor was used to test the hardness and reduced modulus of several two sample groups. These samples consisted of silica colloids deposited onto glass slides that were sintered at various temperatures. Students prepared silica colloid samples of comparable properties, one set was sent to the company Hysitron from UW-Stout in 2009, the other was sent to UW-Eau Claire from Carthage College in 2017. The aim for this project was to confirm data found by Hysitron. The ongoing project at Carthage needed confirmation that the way the samples were prepared were consistent with previous methods. Our findings indicated that the samples sintered at higher temperatures had a higher hardness and reduced modulus, which was also determined by Hysitron. The goal of this was to show that the process of creating the samples were reproducible and accurate.