Orientation mapping of semicrystalline polymers using scanning electron nanobeam diffraction. (September 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Panova, Ouliana; Chen, X. Chelsea; Bustillo, Karen C.; Ophus, Colin; Bhatt, Mahesh P.; Balsara, Nitash; Minor, Andrew M.
• Is Part Of: Micron. Volume 88(2016:Sep.)
• Page Start: 30
• Page End: 36
• Publication Date: 2016-09
• Subjects: TEM -- STEM -- Spatially resolved -- Diffraction -- Crystal orientation -- P3HT -- Polymers -- Locally resolved structure; Microscopy -- Periodicals; Electron Probe Microanalysis -- Periodicals; Microscopy -- Periodicals; Microscopie -- Périodiques; Microscopy; Periodicals; 502.82
• DOI: 10.1016/j.micron.2016.05.008
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0968-4328

Abstract

Highlights: We demonstrate a scanning electron nanobeam diffraction technique for orientation mapping of polymers. The technique can map the size and distribution of crystallites in a polymer blend with a spatial resolution of 20 nm over a field of view of about 1 μm The technique can also map the relative orientation of crystallites and the degree of crystallinity of the material. We discuss the technique in detail, including the acquisition, alignment, filtering and analysis of the electron diffraction datasets. Abstract: We demonstrate a scanning electron nanobeam diffraction technique that can be used for mapping the size and distribution of nanoscale crystalline regions in a polymer blend. In addition, it can map the relative orientation of crystallites and the degree of crystallinity of the material. The model polymer blend is a 50:50 w/w mixture of semicrystalline poly(3-hexylthiophene-2, 5-diyl) (P3HT) and amorphous polystyrene (PS). The technique uses a scanning electron beam to raster across the sample and acquires a diffraction image at each probe position. Through image alignment and filtering, the diffraction image dataset enables mapping of the crystalline regions within the scanned area and construction of an orientation map.