A study on the relationship between microstructure and mechanical properties of porous polymer films

To understand the porous polymer films' mechanical behavior from the perspective of their structural features, a three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction based on the focused ion beam/scanning electron microscope images was applied to obtain the microstructural information for two samples with distinct structures. With accurate image-based 3D models, the finite element analysis was carried out to investigate the effects of film microstructure on the mechanical properties under uniaxial tensile loading. Good agreement is found by comparing the modeling and simulation results with the experimentally measured stress-strain data from tensile tests. Insights from mechanical simulation incorporated with 3D microstructure characterization can help guide the development of porous polymer films with high strength and toughness. [Display omitted] •A high-resolution FIB-SEM 3D tomography technique was employed to expose the internal morphology of porous polymer films.•The porous microstructures in polymer films were characterized with image-based 3D models.•The finite element analysis was carried out based on the reconstructed 3D models of porous polymer films.•An isotropic porous structure can improve the mechanical characteristics of porous polymer film.