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e-Journal of Soft Materials
Vol. 2 (2006) P 56-61

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http://doi.org/10.2324/ejsm.2.56

Regular Article

Study on Three-dimensional Structures in Injection-molded iPP/Poly(ethylene-co-octene) by Transmission Electron Microtomography

Michio Ono1) 4), Hideo Nishioka2), Hiroshi Jinnai3), Ken Nakajima4), Toshio Nishi4)

1) Kawasaki Development Center, SunAllomer Ltd. 2) Joint Research Center for Project on Nanostructure Polymeric Materials, Japan Chemical Innovation Institute (JCII) 3) Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Kyoto Institute of Technology 4) Department of Organic and Polymeric Materials, School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology

Released 2006/12/25  
received 2005/11/22   accepted 2006/08/07

Keywords: Transmission electron microscopy, Transmission electron microtomography, Isotactic polypropylene, Thermoplastic elastomer, Linear thermal expansion coefficient


A phase-separated structure of the injection-molded isotactic polypropylene (iPP)/poly(ethylene-co-octene) (EOR) binary blend was studied in three-dimension (3D) by transmission electron microtomography (TEMT). Highly oriented EOR domains along both flow- (FD) and transverse-to-flow (TD) directions resulting in stacking lamella-sheet like structures to normal direction (ND) were confirmed. Some irregularities in morphology and intervals between the EOR sheets, and thickness heterogeneity of the sheets, were observed more frequently in the TD rather than in the FD. Using the 3D information obtained by the TEMT, we have tried to elucidate massive anisotropy in linear thermal expansion coefficient (CLTE) along the injection directions in this blend. We found that the CLTE anisotropy was well correlated with the lamella-like sheets arrays and their irregularities.
The 3D-TEMT image of the injection-molded iPP/ethylene-co-octene rubber blend is shown as a volume rendering. The frames are shown in reconstructed geometry. The Z-axis is taken parallel to transverse-to-flow direction (TD). Fullsize Image

Copyright © 2006 The Society of Rubber Science and Technology, Japan
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