Development of Techniques and Methodologies for Micro- and Sub-micro Evaluation of Moulded Polymer Systems

Advanced microscopy techniques, especially Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) are commonly used in many cutting-edge scientific projects. They are invaluable tools for many areas of research concerning not only a simple investigation of surface topology, but also much more complex surface evaluation studies. In this project the SPM and Scanning Electron Microscopy SEM were utilized for the investigation of morphology on the nanometer and micrometer scale of a few complex polymer systems. Firstly, the techniques were used to reveal morphology of electrolessely plated polymers at various stages of the plating process. Two different polymer systems with different plating chemistry were investigated and characterized. Secondly, SPM and Optical Microscopy (OM) were used to visualize changes in morphology in micro injection moulded samples. The two cases proved the microscopy techniques to be essential tool in a quality monitoring of the investigated systems.