Chemical Etching Technique Makes Possible SEM Investigation Of Polyolefin Microstructures

Extract

Although scanning electron microscopes (SEM) have been used to study the polyolefin polymer morphology as it relates to the development and modification of the commercial products, it has seldom been used to study polyolefin microstructures such as spherulite and lamellae morphology. Rather, transmission electron microscopes (TEM) have been used for such morphology studies because they provide the resolution necessary for observation of polymer microstructures. Unfortunately, TEM studies require the microtomesectioning of the buik samples to produce suitable test samples after unloading. In contrast, we have shown that, if suitable sample preparation techniques are employed, the surface morphology of bulk polyolefin samples, such as the thick test pieces and commercial products, can be characterized using the SEM. In this article we introduce our chemical etching technique that is suitable for the investigation of the polyolefin microstructures.