Simultaneous collection of spatial, chemical and time analytical data using spectroscopic imaging

ANYL 180

Jack L. Koenig, jlk6@po.cwru.edu, Department of Macromolecular Science, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106-7202
Properties of polymeric materials strongly depend on their structural organization. The performance of many industrial polymers is determined by the microscopic morphology of the polymers. Most biomedical, forensic, materials and industrial applications of chemical imaging require: • an imaging device with high chemical selectivity and specificity, • an imaging device with easy to use image processing and manipulation software, • a reliable, easy to use, and easy to understand imaging device interface (in this case a microscope), • ability to improve the fidelity of the image by signal averaging, • rapid image data acquisition which requires a high frame rate. As an example of the dynamic applications of spectral imaging, we will report the morphological changes of polymer blends characterized over a period of time. By constructing Beer's law calibration plots, the amount of each component that is present in the two phases can be accurately determined. Additionally, this paper will demonstrate the application of standard image processing routines to the analysis of chemical images.