Microtome

In order to increase the contrast in light microscopy, staining with selective dye molecules that absorb light or have a dilferent refractive index is often used. This process is not widely used in the synthetic polymer field, but there are three specific instances that are worth noting  

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McBain reports the following microtome data for a phenol solution. A solution of 5 g of phenol in 1000 g of water was skimmed the area skimmed was 310 cm and a 3.2-g sample was obtained. An interferometer measurement showed a difference of 1.2 divisions between the bulk and the scooped-up solution, where one division corresponded to 2.1 X 10 g phenol per gram of water concentration difference. Also, for 0.05, 0.127, and 0.268M solutions of phenol at 20°C, the respective surface tensions were 67.7, 60.1, and 51.6 dyn/cm. Calculate the surface excess Fj from (a) the microtome data, (b) for the same concentration but using the surface tension data, and (c) for a horizontally oriented monolayer of phenol (making a reasonable assumption as to its cross-sectional area). 

Microsporida Microsporosis Microsporumaudouim Microsporum cams Microstmcture Microstmctures Microtex fibers Microtome knives Micro tunneling Microutility systems Microvilli Microvit... 

The TEM is one of the most generally useful microscopes many thousands of them ate in daily use throughout the world. They ate appHcable to the study of ultrafine particles (eg, pigments abrasives and carbon blacks) as well as microtomed thin sections of plant and animal tissue, paper, polymers, composites of all kinds, foods, industrial materials, etc. Even metals can be thinned to sections thin enough for detailed examination. 

Quantifying the effect of surface roughness or morphology is difficult, however. Surface preparations that provide different degrees of surface roughness also usually produce surfaces that have different oxide thicknesses and mechanical properties, different compositions, or different contaminant levels. The problem of separation of these variables was circumvented in a recent study [52] by using a modified microtome as a micro milling machine to produce repeatable, well-characterized micron-sized patterns on clad 2024-T3 aluminum adherends. Fig. 2 shows the sawtooth profile created by this process. 

In earlier research the alignment operation was applied to CNTs in the form of a CNT-polymer resin [24] or CNT suspended in a solvent [25]. In the method developed by Ajayan et al. [24], purified MWCNTs were dispersed in an epoxy resin which was cut with a diamond knife and a microtome in order to obtain aligned CNTs. De Heer et al. [25] used a 0.2 (im pore ceramic filter in order to create an MWCNT suspension in ethanol, and to obtain a black deposit which was transferred to a plastic surface (Delrin or Teflon) by pressing the filter onto the polymer. However, only a moderate degree of orientation and uniformity in length of the CNTs was achieved by this method. 

Mikro-spatel, m. micro spatula, -stativ, n, micro stand, -tomschnitt, m. microtome section. -trichter, m. micro funnel, -verbren-nung,/. microcombustion, mikrovolumetrisch, a. microvolumetric. Mikro-wa(a)ge, /. microbalance, -welle, /. 

The block copolymer and the microsphere were cast from polymer-benzene solution on a Teflon sheet. The solution was gradually dried at room temperature. Film was microtomed vertically at 80 nm thick by the Ul-traCut-N (Reichert Nissei). In order to obtain enough contrast for TEM observation, the P4VP microdomains in the film were stained with OSO4. The film was observed by TEM (JEOL CX-100) at 100 kV. 

The blends are cured with a sulphur-sulphonamide zinc stearate mixture so that the elastomer phase is hardened and then microtomed. 

The blends are frozen in liquid nitrogen and then microtomed and stained with osmium tetraoxide, which stains only unsaturated elastomers. 

There is the microtoming optical analysis test. In this procedure thin slices (under 30 tixri) of the plastics are cut from the product at any level and microscopically examined under polarized light transmitted through the sample. Rapid quality and failure analysis examination occurs by this technique. This technique has been used for many years in biological studies and by metallurgists to determine flaws, physical and mechanical properties. Examination can be related to stress patterns, mechanical properties, etc. 

Thin polymer films may also be investigated by TEM and high resolution images are obtained for e.g. thin films of liquid crystalline polymers [64]. Usually thin microtome cuts from bulk samples are investigated, but also epitaxial growth of polyoxymethylene on NaCl [152], chain folding of polyethylene crystals [153], epitaxial crystallization of polypropylene on polystyrene [154] or monomolecular polystyrene particles [155] are observed. The resolution is, however, in most cases not comparable to STM. 

NR with standard recipe with 10 phr CB (NR 10) was prepared as the sample. The compound recipe is shown in Table 21.2. The sectioned surface by cryo-microtome was observed by AFM. The cantilever used in this smdy was made of Si3N4. The adhesion between probe tip and sample makes the situation complicated and it becomes impossible to apply mathematical analysis with the assumption of Hertzian contact in order to estimate Young s modulus from force-distance curve. Thus, aU the experiments were performed in distilled water. The selection of cantilever is another important factor to discuss the quantitative value of Young s modulus. The spring constant of 0.12 N m (nominal) was used, which was appropriate to deform at rubbery regions. The FV technique was employed as explained in Section 21.3.3. The maximum load was defined as the load corresponding to the set-point deflection. 

Thin sections cut with a diamond knife microtome can be of great advantage in locating regions of catalyst where important chemical or structural changes take place during reaction. Comparison of equivalent areas of fresh and deactivated catalyst can be a difficult problem if the catalyst support does not have a uniform microstructure as in carbon supports produced from plant materials. Even when specimen selection and preparation are adequate, it may be difficult to know upon which image features to place the electron beam to solve the problem at hand. 

The depth distribution of light stabilisers in coatings has been studied in 1 - 3 mg microtomed slices, by means of SFE-GC with ToF-SIMS and nitrogen thermionic detection, as well as by direct ToF-SIMS analysis results were in good agreement [59]. As the SFE effluent... 

Figure 3 FTIR microscopy absorbance spectra (100 pm aperture) recorded from a microtomed section through a defect area of a PES film. The upper spectrum is characteristic of the base film the lower spectrum is representative of the defect area. The difference in relative intensity of the band at 760 cm 1 can be clearly seen this band is attributable to the aryl-Cl end group. The consequence of this difference was the aryl-Cl end group deficient material processed differently giving rise to a gel-like feature in the polymer film. Reproduced with permission from Chalmers and Everall [1]. Copyright Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH Co. KGaA.

Figure 16 (a) Schematic for obtaining a thin microtomed cross-section for FTIR microscopy... 

For a ToF-SIMS investigation of the surface oxidative degradation of low-density polyethylene (LDPE), the polymer was exposed to 1802 rather than 1602 in order to be able to readily discriminate oxygen introduced by the ageing process from that in the polymer prior to ageing [102], Figure 36 shows an example series of ToF-SIMS spectra from this investigation, which shows the clear separation of the lsO species from the lsO species. In the study, close correlation was observed between the intensity of the lsO carbonyl species determined by mid-infrared spectroscopy with the ToF-SIMS 180- peak intensity as a function of 1802 exposure time. ToF-SIMS spectra obtained from microtomed cross-sections showed no... 

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