Hyperspectral chemical analysis of a latex blend at the nanoscale
nano-FTIR hyperspectral imaging delivers high quality broadband spectra that allow for multivariate data analysis using standard routines for IR spectroscopy ( e . g . principal component & cluster analysis , etc .) for ultimate chemometrics of complex polymer structures at the sub-10 nm scale .
Hyperspectral data cube Compositional map nano-FTIR absorption
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Multivariate analysis |
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Chemometrics |
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Standard IR multivariate analysis applied to hyperspectral data cube ( left ) acquired by neaSCOPE on a 170-nm-thick film of latex tri-polymer yields a domain map ( middle ) that shows nanoscale coexistance of three expected blend components : fluoro-copolymer ( FP ), acrylic copolymer ( AC ) and polystyrene latex ( PS ).
Surprisingly , another domain type ( purple ) also ap- pears in the map . Analysis of the corresponding characteristic spectra ( right ) reveals chemical interaction between the fluoropolymer and the polyacrylate in these nanodomains , which is important for understanding polymer mixing at the nanoscale .
I . Amenabar et al ., Nature Comm . 2017 , 8 , 14402 .
C . Westermeier et al ., Nature Comm . 2014 , 5 , 4101
A . A . Govyadinov et al ., J . Phys . Chem . Lett . 2013 , 4 , 1526
T . Taubner et al ., Appl . Phys . Lett . 2004 , 85 , 5064
Hyperspectral imaging reveals chemical interaction of polymer blend components at the nanoscale .