A Simple Method for Evaluating Periodic Structures Based on Atomic Force Microscopy Images

Yun-Peng Li; Wen-Ya Yuan; Bing-Hui Xu; Wei-Yu Li; Rui Xin; Shou-Ke Yan

doi:10.1007/s10118-026-3625-6

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A Simple Method for Evaluating Periodic Structures Based on Atomic Force Microscopy Images

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2026-07-01

- A Simple Method for Evaluating Periodic Structures Based on Atomic Force Microscopy Images
  Enhanced Publication
- A Simple Method for Evaluating Periodic Structures Based on Atomic Force Microscopy Images
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science 2026年44卷第7期页码：2322-2330
- Affiliations：
  
  a.Key Laboratory of Rubber-Plastics, Ministry of Education/Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Rubber-plastics, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266042, China
  b.State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
- Author bio：
  
  ypli@qust.edu.cn
- Funds：
  
  This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52403024) and the Qingdao Postdoctoral Foundation (No. QDBSH20240101014).;Shou-Ke Yan is an associate editor for Chinese Journal of Polymer Science and was not involved in the editorial review or the decision to publish this article. The authors declare no interest conflict.Movie revealing the similarity between the fused image and the original AFM image of the melt-drawn PE film. This information can be found at https://www.cjps.org/10.1007/s10118-026-3625-6.The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Some of the source codes are available at https://github.com/liyunpeng1216/scientific-research. Please cite this work if you use these codes.
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3625-6
  中图分类号： [M
- 收稿：2026-01-21，
  
  修回：2026-02-10，
  
  录用：2026-02-12，
  
  网络首发：2026-04-09，
  
  纸质出版：2026-07-05
- Accepted：
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Li, Y. P.; Yuan, W. Y.; Xu, B. H.; Li, W. Y.; Xin, R.; Yan, S. K. A simple method for evaluating periodic structures based on atomic force microscopy images. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 2322–2330

Yun-Peng Li, Wen-Ya Yuan, Bing-Hui Xu, et al. A Simple Method for Evaluating Periodic Structures Based on Atomic Force Microscopy Images[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(7): 2322-2330.
Li, Y. P.; Yuan, W. Y.; Xu, B. H.; Li, W. Y.; Xin, R.; Yan, S. K. A simple method for evaluating periodic structures based on atomic force microscopy images. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 2322–2330 DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3625-6.

Yun-Peng Li, Wen-Ya Yuan, Bing-Hui Xu, et al. A Simple Method for Evaluating Periodic Structures Based on Atomic Force Microscopy Images[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(7): 2322-2330. DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3625-6.

摘要

Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) is widely used to characterize periodic structures in semicrystalline polymers but relies on complex models. We propose a simple atomic force microscopy (AFM) image-analysis method to measure crystalline

amorphous sizes and long period. The method can also analyze fibrillar and shish-kebab structures accurately.

Abstract

Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS)

a conventional and widely accepted technique

has been frequently used to evaluate the periodic structure of semicrystalline polymeric materials. However

SAXA data interpretation relies heavily on intricate theoretical models and assumptions regarding the electron density profiles. In this study

we developed a simple image analysis

method for calculating the sizes of both crystalline and amorphous regions

together with the long period

based on the images obtained

via

atomic force microscopy (AFM). This was confirmed by using melt-drawn poly(L-lactic acid) films composed of chain-folded lamellar crystals

and the long period obtained through image analysis (34.4 nm) was very close to that obtained by SAXS (34.9 nm)

indicating the reliability of the method. The newly developed method can be used to analyze the structure of films with fibrillar crystals

and even with shish-kebab structures

through the accurate and effective separation of shish and kebab structures individually. Undoubtedly

this work is of great significance for establishing precise structure-property correlations and providing fundamental insights into polymer crystallization mechanisms.

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references

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