About the Art and Science of Visualizing Polymer Morphology using Transmission Electron Microscopy

Sylvie Tencé-Girault (1) , Vincent Woehling (2) , Evdokia Oikonomou (1) , Szilvia Karpati (1) , Sophie Norvez (1)

1 MMC - Laboratoire Matière Molle et Chimie
2 LPPI - Laboratoire de Physico-chimie des Polymères et des Interfaces

Transmission electron microscopy is a unique tool to visualize polymer morphology, an intimate organization of the matter, encompassing crystalline features in semi-crystalline polymers and a kaleidoscopic collection of patterns produced by micro-separated phases in polymer blends. This manuscript aims at demonstrating the various opportunities this technique enables, through a miscellany of studies that have been performed in our laboratory. Materials as different as bulk and composite compounds, thin films, hollow fiber membranes, rubbers are presented, from the viewpoint of the interrelation of TEM with other techniques like scattering, mechanical and thermo-mechanical experiments.

Domaines: Polymères; Instrumentations et Détecteurs [physics.ins-det]

Sylvie Tencé-Girault, Vincent Woehling, Evdokia Oikonomou, Szilvia Karpati, Sophie Norvez. About the Art and Science of Visualizing Polymer Morphology using Transmission Electron Microscopy. Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics, 2018, Polymer Characterization and Morphology, 219 (3), pp.1700483. ⟨10.1002/macp.201700483⟩. ⟨hal-02406372⟩