Nanoscale analysis of polymer interfaces by energy-filtering transmission electron microscopy

Energy-filtering transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM) was employed for the analysis of polymer-polymer interfaces. To attain imaging and spectral analyses with a spatial resolution of 10 nm, problems arising in the EFTEM analysis for polymer specimens were investigated. Interfaces in poly(methyl methacrylate)/polystyrene-co-polyacrylonitrile random copolymer (PMMA/SAN) bilayer films annealed at different temperatures were analyzed by means of elemental mapping and Image-ELLS on EFTEM and the effect of the annealing temperature on the interfacial structures was also investigated.