Improving the workflow of tomography studies for the polymer additives industry

Synchrotron X-ray tomography offers many advantages for the study of flame retardants in polymer blends. The time to acquire the raw projection data is relatively short, the time required to reconstruct and view a 3D image is acceptable, and multiple data sets can be combined to yield 3D chemical distributions, a rather remarkable achievement. However, the workflow is not yet optimized, with too many steps requiring the interaction of a skilled scientist, the re-writing of complex computer codes, and the continued quest for new and improved data analyses. From the point-of-view of the industrial scientists, the attitudes range from “I need to learn more about this experiment" to “just give me a picture". Herein, we discuss the capabilities and resources at the beamline versus the needs of the industrial user. It is a rapidly evolving relationship with a bright future. Recent advances include grating-based phase contrast imaging, dynamic tomography, VisTrails workow, and Apple's iBook Authoring, with the last providing an informal, guided instruction for advanced topics in tomography.