Freeze shattering method

Manual methods of freeze fracture are often useful in providing specimens for study in the SEM. An example of a freeze shattering method was described by Stoffer and Bone [406] for comparison with microtomy results. Polymers immersed in liquid nitrogen were mechanically shattered with a hammer, mounted, vacuum pumped and sputter coated for observation. This simple method is useful if the materials cannot be sectioned. However, fine structural details are not conclusive when specimens are prepared by such methods. 

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