Real-Space Studies on Interface in a Phase-Separated Polymer Blend by Laser Scanning Confocal Microscopy

Abstract

Laser scanning confocal microscopy was used to study a three dimensional (3d) spatially bicontinuous structure of a phase-separated polymer blend. From the 3d image, both the mean and Gaussian curvatures of interface between two coexisting phases were directly measured. The obtained Gaussian curvature was negative, clearly demonstrating that the interface of the bicontinuous structure is anticlastic, i.e., the principal curvatures have opposite signs. The mean radius of the interface obtained from the curvature measurement was compared with that independently estimated from scattering methods.