A POLARIZED-LIGHT SCATTERING APPROACH FOR DISPERSED PHASE MORPHOLOGY CHARACTERIZATION IN SIMULATED POLYMER BLENDS

A light scattering technique using a normal-incidence polarized light beam for the characterization of skin/core simulated polymer blend sam ples is described. The patterns of reflected, polarized scattered ligh t from an inhomogeneous blend were captured using a video camera. The blend was illuminated from a focused laser source. The simulated sampl es were constructed by incorporating glass fibers (skin) and glass mic rospheres (core) in a polymer matrix. Asymmetrical patterns were obtai ned. They reflect the anisotropic nature of the near-surface morpholog y. Moreover, the change of the anisotropy ratio of the iso-intensity c urves plotted, as a function of distance from the position of the inci dent laser beam on the sample, gives information about the skin and th e core content as well as the skin thickness.