Natarajan Wins FEI Image Award

Bharath Natarajan, a NIST Associate from Georgetown University working on the 3D imaging of carbon and cellulose nanofibers, within the Nanomanufacturing Program,  submitted an image of a 3D volume reconstruction of a forest of carbon nanotubes (CNT) embedded in epoxy, titled “A (CNT) bundle is strong”.  The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) sample was prepared by focusing ion beam (FIB) milling in a FEI Helios FIB and imaged in an FEI Titan TEM using electron tomography. The tilt series was reconstructed and then processed in in-house software to identify CNT bundles and color them based on their size. This bundling information is key to understanding the network properties as well the axial mechanical properties of these composites.