An etch method for microscopy of rubber-toughened plastics

✍ Scribed by C.B. Bucknall; I.C. Drinkwater; Wendy E. Keast

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1972
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 965 KB
• Volume: 13
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0032-3861
• DOI: 10.1016/s0032-3861(72)80005-3

✦ Synopsis

Microtomed blocks of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), high-impact polystyrene (HIPS), and high-impact poly(2,6-dimethyl-l,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO) were etched with a mixture of chromic and phosphoric acids, and examined in optical and scanning-electr0n microscopes. Replicas of the etched surfaces were examined by electron microscopy. These techniques reveal details of orientation in injection mouldings, of internal structure in composite rubber particles, and of crazing and shear band formation. The etch method avoids the specimen distortion inherent in sectioning.