Morphology of Shear-Induced Polymer Cylindrites Revealed by 3D Optical Imaging.

ABSTRACT: Two-photon confocal laser microscopy was used to obtain three-dimensional (3D) images of the morphology of poly(lactic acid) after shear-induced crystallization. The necessary fluorescence contrast was achieved by doping the polymer with Nile Red. The dye gets partially rejected from the growing crystalline aggregates during their formation, thus creating a renderable high-low fluorescence boundary outlining the shape of the aggregates. Parallel-plate melt-shearing and pulling a glass fiber through the melt were used as the two methods to achieve shear-induced crystallization. This study focuses on the shape of the resulting cylindrites, i.e., large-diameter shish-kebabs. The first 3D images of polymer cylindrites show that, if far from boundaries, they are circular cylinders, highly regul

SUBMITTER: Yang SG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9835984 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature