SEM, ToF-SIMS and LFM morphological study of an heterogeneous polymeric surface

Abstract

Films with an heterogeneous surface have been obtained by compression moulding of mixtures of two incompatible polymers: poly(propylene) (PP) and poly(ethylene terephtalate) (PET). The surface morphology of films prepared with 20% of PP and 80% of PET has been studied by means of various methods: scanning electron microscopy (SEM), time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and lateral force microscopy (LFM). The three methods revealed an heterogeneous surface with a continuous phase including nodules whose size ranges from approximately 1 mu m to more than 100 mu m. ToF-SIMS analyses identified the chemical nature of this heterogeneity: the continuous phase is PET and the nodules are PP SEM and LFM were also found to be able to image the surface nodules. This study proved the complementarity of the three methods for the characterisation of the surface morphology of polymer blends