ABSTRACT: Working with low energy electrons (in the range of 1keV), the new scanning electron microscope permits the lamellar (supermolecular) structure of semicrystalline polymers to be observed directly without the need of specimen coating or of any other sample preparation technique. Microscope performance is demonstrated by several examples of high resolution micrographs which show spherulitic, lamellar and fibrilar morphologies developed by the a, b and g phases of PVDF as a function of processing conditions and crystallization temperature. Another example reveals the early stages of transcrystalline layer formation in HDPE reinforced by UHMWPE fibers.
Lamellar resolution; scanning electron microscopy; supermolecular structure; transcrystallinity
