SEM, TOF-SIMS AND LFM MORPHOLOGICAL-STUDY OF AN HETEROGENEOUS POLYMERIC SURFACE

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 fil ms prepared with 20% of PP and 80% of PET has been studied by means of various methods: scanning electron microscopy (SEM), time of flight s econdary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and lateral force microscopy (LFM). The three methods revealed an heterogeneous surface with a con tinuous 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 nod ules are PP SEM and LFM were also found to be able to image the surfac e nodules. This study proved the complementarity of the three methods for the characterisation of the surface morphology of polymer blends.