Morphology analysis

Abstract

This chapter is dedicated to the surface morphology and topography analyses of various types of polymers in terms of their structural conformations and resulting material structures. The morphology of polymers includes their overall polymeric structure such as branching, molecular weight, crosslinking, and crystallinity. The morphology analyses of crystalline polymers, amorphous polymers, and polymer blends prepared in different forms such as foils, fibers, or foams, are described in this chapter. Moreover, the analysis and effect of surface modifications on the resulting surface morphology and topography of polymers is reviewed as well. This chapter includes techniques and methods regularly applied to investigate the morphology and topography of polymer materials. These techniques include optical microscopy and electron microscopy, scanning probe techniques, X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, and dynamic mechanical analyses. A combination of these multidisciplinary techniques can enable the analysis of polymer morphology from a complex point of view. 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.