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Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy of the Dehydration of Gel Materials

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2020

Stuart McKernan ,
Robert van Tankeren  and
Kevin H. Mayo
Stuart McKernan
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.
Robert van Tankeren
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Kevin H. Mayo
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
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Abstract

The possibility of performing scanning electron microscopy under “environmental” conditions (ESEM); where the specimen does not have to be under high-vacuum conditions, or even coated to make it conductive, has existed for several years [1]. in particular it has been possible to image in conditions that allow the samples to remain fully hydrated during observation. This unique feature of the ESEM has been exploited to image the dehydration of aqueous protein gel materials which have been created under controlled conditions to produce a range of Gel types.

Drops of several μl of the Gels were placed in the Peltier cooling stage of the FEI-Philips Electroscan E3, and allowed to stabilize at 4.1°C. Several drops of water were placed on the stagesurround to maintain a high vapor pressure of water around the sample. The chamber was then pumped down to the working pressure of 6 torr and then back-filled with pure water vapor following the technique of Cameron et.al. [2].

Type
Technologists’ Forum: ESEM/Lv/Vp: Imaging at Low Vacuum (Organized by J. Killius)
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 7 , Issue S2: Proceedings: Microscopy & Microanalysis 2001, Microscopy Society of America 59th Annual Meeting, Microbeam Analysis Society 35th Annual Meeting, Long Beach, California August 5-9, 2001 , August 2001 , pp. 792 - 793
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 2001

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References

1.Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-ray Microanalysis (2nd edition); Goldstein, et. al. Plenum, New York (1994)Google Scholar
2.Cameron, R. E. and Donald, A. M.Journal of Microscopy, 173, 227–237 (1994)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.This research is supported by the Characterization Facility in the University of Minnesota Institute for Technology.Google Scholar