Figure 7.

(a) Representative oscillatory frequency sweeps on 100CMC30 with and without Si beads, frequencies of oscillation were from 0.1–100 Hz at an oscillating displacement of 10⁻⁴ rad showing no frequency dependence (at the highest frequencies the inertia of the testing geometry dominates over the mechanics of the gel resulting in the decrease in measured modulus) and (b) Histogram comparing the moduli of 100 CMC30 with and without Si beads, the large spread of data with Si beads illustrating the impact heterogeneity has on local mechanical testing. All AFM experiments were conducted with an indentation depth of between 500 and 1000 nm and each curve was done over 1 s. (c) Summary of AFM tests performed on 100CMC30 with and without Si beads highlighting the difference resulting from heterogeneity on mechanical testing with a black line representing the moduli of CMC samples obtained by oscillatory rheology.