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Contact Angle Measurement in the Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2020

J.P. Craven ,
N.A. Stelmashenko ,
E.M. Terentjev  and
B. L. Thiel
J.P. Craven
Affiliation:
Polymers & Colloids, Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge. U.K.CB3 OHE.
N.A. Stelmashenko
Affiliation:
Polymers & Colloids, Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge. U.K.CB3 OHE.
E.M. Terentjev
Affiliation:
Polymers & Colloids, Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge. U.K.CB3 OHE.
B. L. Thiel
Affiliation:
Polymers & Colloids, Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge. U.K.CB3 OHE.
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Extract

The ESEM uses a novel differential pumping system combined with a pressure-limiting aperture to achieve relatively high pressures of up to 10 torr in the specimen chamber. Using this system allows samples to be imaged in the presence of water vapour or other gases. Conveniently the saturated water pressure at 275K lies within this range, allowing the stabilisation of hydrated samples, condensation from water vapour and evaporation to be performed in situ within the microscope chamber.

Wetting of surfaces is of fundamental importance in many different areas of science, from textiles to petroleum engineering. The ESEM now provides an opening for high-resolution studies of these phenomena without the problematic depth-of-field limitations that optical methods present. The contact angle, θ, is defined as the angle between the tangent to the liquid-fluid interface and the tangent to the solid interface. It provides a ready indication to the wetting properties of a system.

Type
Working with ESEM and Other Variable Pressure Systems
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 6 , Issue S2: Proceedings: Microscopy & Microanalysis 2000, Microscopy Society of America 58th Annual Meeting, Microbeam Analysis Society 34th Annual Meeting, Microscopical Society of Canada/Societe de Microscopie de Canada 27th Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania August 13-17, 2000 , August 2000 , pp. 780 - 781
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America

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References

References:

[1]Danilatos, G.D., Advances in Electronics and Electron Optics, 71 (1988).Google Scholar
[2]Jenkins, L.M., A.M. Donald, , Submitted to Langmuir.Google Scholar
[3]Liukkonen, A., Scanning, 19 (1997) 411–415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[4] Treatise on Solid State Chemistry, Ed. Hannay, N.B., 6B - Surfaces II (Plenum Press, N.Y. - London, 1976).Google Scholar
[5] This work was funded by the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) and Schlumberger Cambridge Research (SCR), Cambridge, UK.Google Scholar