Direct Measurement of Strain-dependent Solid Surface Stress

Surface stress, also known as surface tension, is a fundamental material property of any interface. However, measurements of solid surface stress in traditional engineering materials, such as metals and oxides, have proven to be very challenging. In this study, researches from the Soft and Living Materials group take advantage of the high compliance and large elastic deformability of a soft polymer gel to directly measure solid surface stress as a function of strain.