Real space and wave-number space studies of the phase structure and morphology of iPP/PEOc blends using phase contrast microscopy

Abstract

Phase contrast microscopy (PCM) was used to study the relation of the phase structure and morphology of isotactic polypropylene/poly(ethylene- co-octene) (iPP/PEOc) blends and the composition and the shear rate. The digital image analysis containing the analysis both in real space and wave-number space was introduced to deal with the PCM micrographs. The average characteristic length, Lm, in real space and the mean square radius of gyration, [Formula: see text], in wave-number space were defined and calculated to discuss the phase structure and morphology of iPP/PEOc blends. In addition, the fractal dimension, Dc, was introduced to describe spatial distribution uniformity of the dispersed phase. The results showed that these parameters were effective to study the size and its distribution of the dispersed phase particles.