Preparation of Combinatorial Arrays of Polymer Thin Films for Transmission Electron Microscopy Analysis

Published

October 21, 2008

Author(s)

Kristen Roskov, Thomas Epps, Brian Berry, Michael J. Fasolka, Steven D. Hudson, Maeva S. Tureau

Abstract

We present a new method for harvesting multiple thin film specimens from polymer combinatorial libraries for Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) analysis. Such methods are of interest to researchers who wish to integrate TEM measurements into a combinatorial or high-throughput experimental workflow. Our technique employs poly(acrylic acid) plugs, sequestered in an elastomer gasket, to extract a series of film patches from gradient combinatorial libraries. A strategy for simultaneous deposition of the array of film specimens onto TEM grids also is described. We demonstrate our technique using nanostructured polymer thin film libraries as test cases in which the nanoscale details can be successfully imaged. Microscopy of test case specimens demonstrates that these samples are of sufficient quality for morphology screening via TEM, and in some cases are sufficient for more detailed morphological studies.

Citation

Journal of Combinatorial Chemistry

Volume

10

Issue

6

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

combinatorial, high throughput, polymers, sample preparation, thin films, transmission electron microscopy

Citation

Roskov, K. , Epps, T. , Berry, B. , Fasolka, M. , Hudson, S. and Tureau, M. (2008), Preparation of Combinatorial Arrays of Polymer Thin Films for Transmission Electron Microscopy Analysis, Journal of Combinatorial Chemistry, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=852708 (Accessed December 12, 2024)