Atomic force microscopy with fractal studies of temperature induced changes in the surface topography of polymeric materials

Changes in the surface topography of polymeric materials can be analyzed to find the correspondence between observed surface features and specific external factors that might also influence physical and functional properties of the investigated material. In this work, atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements were carried out to investigate the thermal changes in the surface topography as well as in the inner structure of the low density polyethylene (LDPE) samples subjected to 10 recirculations (rLDPE). For better assessment, fractal analysis and AFM results were additionally compared to DSC tests results.