Three-dimensional structure of olefinic thermoplastic elastomer blends using electron tomography

The present communication reports the first use of electron tomography in reconstructing the three-dimensional morphology in thermoplastic elastomer blends. The blends investigated were dynamically vulcanized blends of ethylene-propylene-diene (EPDM) rubber/poly(propylene)/oil and polystyrene-block-(ethylene-co-butylene)-block-polystyrene (SEBS)/poly(propylene)/oil. An easy identification of blend morphology could be carried out at blend compositions, where conventional transmission electron microscopic imaging gives misleading information. This technique gives a higher resolution than any other microscopic technique, and is applicable to blends with dispersed as well as co-continuous morphologies.