Dear Biplab, I would propose X-ray diffraction (XRD) - if you have crystalline samples, the Bragg-peak intensity is a clear indicator for the orientation of the individual crystallites. However for a clay, these intensities may be small, and if the crystallites are small, they may be broad in addition. Good luck, Dirk
Dear Hecht, Thank you for your suggestion. Basically I am trying to find out the orientation of clay in PP matrix. You means that the Bragg-peak intensity of the sample will increase if the orientation increase. Because at higher peak intensity, higher will be the crystallinity, so higher will be the orientation. Am I correct. Plz suggest me.
Biplak, in principle you are right. What kind of peaks you may use depends on what peaks you see - the more you may take into account, the better. Depending on their structure, clays may have many diffraction peaks, so that your information may be quite detailed. However, electron diffraction in a SEM or even TEM (depending on the size of the clay precipitates) may be useful as well - there you can directly map the distribution of orientations! Good luck, Dirk
birefringeance in optical microscope should also be useful to at least get some qualitative information.
For SEM, removing surface layers of the PP matrix by a suitable solvent (mixture) will be necessary.
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