Analysis of graft copolymers via edge detection method of scanning electron micrographs

Surface morphology of graft copolymers plays a crucial role in determining their properties. Integrating image analysis strategies for deeper understanding of surface morphology of polymers is an emerging technique. Using image processing to analyze grafted polymers involves capturing the images of the samples and then processing these images to extract relevant information. In this paper, attempts have been made to analyze the SEM images of the LLDPE grafted polymers through image processing technique to detect the effects of different monomers on the surface morphology grafted onto the prepolymer. Current work discusses edge and contour detection methods of SEM images that have been used for distinguishing the surface features of a polymeric backbone with and without the monomeric species. LLDPE films were grafted using a binary mixture of 4-Vinyl Pyridine (4VP) and 1-Vinyl Imidazole (1VIm), as well as each monomer individually, through radiation grafting under optimized conditions. The proposed method is a promising tool for studying the modification of the surfaces of the polymers with potential for wide-ranging applications in the polymer research.