Measurement of porosity in polyolefin particles using X-ray microtomography

The morphology of polymer macroparticles is directly linked to the various parameters of the polymerisation process. X-ray cone beam microtomography is a tool to provide key information on internal structure like morphology, porosity and interfacial area of such particles to the process engineers. By further application of image processing tools to the reconstructed tomograms, we were able to identify different characteristic morphologies within different polyolefin samples and to detect enclosed voids, which will ultimately not contribute to the active surface area.