Ätzen von Kunststoffschweißnähte-n Eine neue Präparationstechnik / The Etching of Plastics Weld Seams —- A New Method of Preparation

Abstract

The further development of etching techniques for the preparation of plastics effectively compliments the current methods used for their microscopic examination, e.g. microtome sectioning with polarised light microscopy and polished microsections. In this article, a new method of preparation is presented which supplements the current methods of analysis used in the investigation of welds in thermoplastic materials. It has been demonstrated that by etching, the super molecular structures of partially crystalline materials, even in materials so diverse as welds, can be effectively revealed. By examination in the scanning electron microscope, the resolution of structures smaller than 1 μm is easily possible, enabling the structures of even fine spherolitic materials such as polyethylene to be examined.