Recent advances in Analytical Electxon Microscopy (AEM) have changed the methods by which microicopists study polymer and fiber morphology. As polymeric materialis play a major role in our way of living - clothing, shelter, fuel, chemicals - the interest has spread from a small group of theoretical physicists to the larger group of applications scientists. Until forty years ago, optical microscopy (OM) provided the only microicopical means of observing the morphology of materials. Then transmission electron microscopes (TEM) brought a new depth and resolution of fine structures not previously known. The methodology of preparing materials for TEM, ultramicrotomy and replication, are revealing but tedious and replete with artifacts. Bridging the gap between OM and TEM the scanning electron microscopes (SEM), in use over the past fifteen years, have provided easily available and interpretable surface images of fibers, fabrics, membranes, films and composites. Finally, the limited resolution of the SEM has been improved by the use of modern composite instruments known as analytical electron microscopes (AEM).
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Linda C. Sawyer (1981) studied this question.