Quantitative Analysis of Composite Polymeric Membrane Structure Using Contour Morphological Heterogeneity Functions

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Polymer Science
• Analytical Chemistry

Background:

• Membrane architecture significantly impacts separation performance.
• Accurate characterization of multilayer polymer membranes is crucial for optimizing their design and application.
• Current methods for analyzing membrane microstructure can be subjective and time-consuming.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a quantitative and automated method for characterizing the architecture of multilayer polymer membranes.
• To standardize the analysis of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of membranes.
• To enable precise determination of layer thicknesses within membrane structures.

Main Methods:

• Development of a quantitative method based on computer analysis of SEM images.
• Implementation of contour morphological heterogeneity function (CMHF) calculations.
• Application and validation of the method on polysulfone, polytetrafluoroethylene, and polyimide membranes.

Main Results:

• Successfully characterized the architecture of multilayer polymer membranes.
• Identified distinct structural zones (surface, transition, volumetric layers) within the membranes.
• Demonstrated the ability to determine layer thicknesses quantitatively.

Conclusions:

• The developed CMHF method provides a standardized and automated approach for SEM image analysis of polymer membranes.
• This technique allows for accurate metrological analysis of membrane structure and architecture.
• The algorithm facilitates computer vision-based characterization of filtering and separating equipment elements.