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JOURNAL OF POLYMER ENGINEERING
Vol. 22, No. 4, 2002, page 261
Application
of stereology methods to the description of the morphology of polyurethaneureas Joanna Ryszkowska and Krzysztof Rożniatowski Warsaw University of Technology ABSTRACT This
paper presents the application of stereology methods to the description of
morphological properties of polyurethaneurea (PUU) domains. Stereology methods
are used inter alia in the analysis of internal structure images and surface
layer of materials and in description of their fractures. The work analyses
images of fracture surfaces obtained in the cracking process. The paper
also describes application
of stereology methods to the analysis of domain structure of polyurethaneureas.
Using scanning electron microscopy technique, fracture images of polymers
cooled down in liquid nitrogen have been obtained. Such images provide
interesting information on fracture morphology. Fracture images of polyurethaneurea
samples allow for analysis of three-dimensional structure of these materials.
The paper presents images of fractures obtained using different techniques of
sample preparation. From the point of view of the description of domain
structure in examined polyurethaneureas, breaking of PUUs containing crystalline
phase frozen in liquid nitrogen, followed by their ageing, turned out to be the
most advantageous method. Quantitative analysis of the images of fracture
structure obtained with that technique allowed us to explain the mechanism of
processes occurring during reactions of crystalline prepolymers with water and
to investigate relationships between domain characteristics and properties of
examined materials. Stereology methods were also found to be useful in
comparative analysis of PUU structures with containing various rigid segments.
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