STEM-in-SEM method for morphology analysis of polymer systems
STEM-in-SEM method for morphology analysis of polymer systems
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DOI：
10.1016/j.polymer.2011.01.030
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发表时间：
2011-03-01
期刊：
影响因子：
4.6
通讯作者：
Preschilla, Nisha
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Guise, Olivier;Strom, Carl;Preschilla, Nisha
通过分析各种具有商业意义的聚合物系统，探索了 STEM-in-SEM 在聚合物表征方面的适用性，特别是在制造环境中。使用为 TEM 研究准备的样品对工程热塑性共混物和复合材料进行 STEM-in-SEM 研究，与 TEM 显微照片进行了出色的比较。即使使用热离子 SEM，也可以轻松获得多相聚合物系统的重要结构细节。从 STEM-in-SEM 获得了高质量图像，并能够研究常见的监测特征，例如整体形态、组分相的识别、离散相和连续相之间的兼容性评估以及离散组分的分散和分布。事实证明，STEM-in-SEM 对于相间对比度较低的聚合物系统或光束敏感样品具有额外的优势，而这对于 TEM 成像来说极具挑战性。将 SEM 的大视场与高放大倍数范围相结合，还可以成功研究裂纹扩展等大规模现象。还证明了 STEM-in-SEM 相对于 TEM 对于设计变更的高度灵活性，可以处理大量样品并缩短每个样品的周转时间。与传统的单样品 STEM-in-SEM 或 TEM 相比，具有 12 个样品转盘的 STEM-in-SEM 的生产率提高了约 50%。 (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. 保留所有权利。
Applicability of STEM-in-SEM for polymer characterization, particularly for a manufacturing environment, was explored through analysis of a wide range of commercially significant polymer systems. STEM-in-SEM studies of engineering thermoplastic blends and composites, using samples prepared for TEM studies, showed excellent comparison to TEM micrographs. Important structural details of multi-phase polymer systems could be easily obtained, even when using a thermionic SEM. High quality images were obtained from STEM-in-SEM, and enabled the study of commonly monitored features such as overall morphology, identification of component phases, assessment of compatibility between discrete and continuous phases, and the dispersion and distribution of the discrete components. STEM-in-SEM proved to have additional advantages for polymer systems with low contrast between phases, or beam-sensitive samples, which are highly challenging for TEM imaging. Combining the large field of view with the high magnification range in an SEM, it was also possible to successfully study large-scale phenomena, such as crack propagation. High flexibility of STEM-in-SEM over TEM for design changes is also demonstrated to allow for handling of a large number of samples and a lower turnaround time per sample. An increase in productivity by about 50% was obtained for STEM-in-SEM with a 12-sample carousel vs. a conventional single-sample STEM-in-SEM or TEM. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.