Establishing of so-called “structure-processing-property relations” is one of the biggest challenges in polymer sciences, and in materials sciences in general. Understanding how the macromolecular architecture of a polymer, together with the applied processing conditions forces its nanoscale organization and thus its macroscopic properties is key driver for the development of advanced materials and innovative products. Small changes of the macromolecular architecture, blending with additives, fillers, or other polymers, solution or melt processing etc. are influencing the organization and performance of polymer materials. 

In polymer sciences, information on the organization of polymer materials is gained by scattering techniques (e.g. light, wide/small angle X-ray or neutron scattering), spectroscopic techniques (e.g. optical spectroscopy or solid-state NMR), or microscopy (e.g. optical, electron, and atomic force microscopy). Scattering and spectroscopy techniques commonly provide bulk information with excellent statistical relevance. Identification of local features e.g. enrichment of additives or variation of crystallinity at interfaces, however, mainly can be provided by high resolution microscopy techniques. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), and recently so-called super-resolution fluorescence microscopy can offer local information on the organization with nanometer resolution. 

On the other hand, these microscopy techniques commonly provide only morphological images of surfaces (SEM, AFM) or visualize 2D superposition of nanoscale features within the volume of an ultra-thin film or cross-sectional cut specimen (TEM). However, smart developments in advanced microscopy technologies allow for local chemical or molecular imaging as well as property imaging with nanometer resolution, in 2D films or sections and 3D volume samples. In the present study, I will demonstrate several examples where smart microscopy helps better understanding the nanoworld of materials, and thus allows for establishing of structure-property relations