Preparation of Surfaces

Abstract

This chapter covers various preparation steps, techniques and results concerning the imaging of surfaces of polymers. Firstly, examples of the direct imaging of surfaces of polymeric samples like powders, fibres, polymer latices, etc. that do not require chemical or physical pretreatment arementioned. Secondly, chemical etching procedures like permanganic etching and physical etching techniques like plasma or ion etching are described, and the results of these procedures are discussed for several groups of polymers like polyolefins, block copolymers, and others. Thirdly, the preparation of fracture surfaces is explained and illustrated, including cryofracture at low temperatures and the special method of soft matrix fracture or melt fracture at elevated temperatures. Finally, examples of the preparation of surface replicas that can be imaged in the TEM are presented.