Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T20:09:33.007Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Novel Method for Controlled Wetting of Materials in the Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 January 2013

Anna Jansson ,
Alexandra Nafari ,
Anke Sanz-Velasco ,
Krister Svensson ,
Stefan Gustafsson ,
Anne-Marie Hermansson  and
Eva Olsson
Anna Jansson*
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-41296 Gothenburg, Sweden
Alexandra Nafari
Affiliation:
Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-41296 Gothenburg, Sweden NanoFactory Instruments AB, SE-41288 Gothenburg, Sweden
Anke Sanz-Velasco
Affiliation:
Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-41296 Gothenburg, Sweden
Krister Svensson
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Electrical Engineering, Karlstad University, SE-65188 Karlstad, Sweden
Stefan Gustafsson
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-41296 Gothenburg, Sweden
Anne-Marie Hermansson
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-41296 Gothenburg, Sweden
Eva Olsson
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-41296 Gothenburg, Sweden
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Environmental scanning electron microscopy has been extensively used for studying the wetting properties of different materials. For some types of investigation, however, the traditional ways of conducting in situ dynamic wetting experiments do not offer sufficient control over the wetting process. Here, we present a novel method for controlled wetting of materials in the environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM). It offers improved control of the point of interaction between the water and the specimen and renders it more accessible for imaging. It also enables the study of water transport through a material by direct imaging. The method is based on the use of a piezo-driven nanomanipulator to bring a specimen in contact with a water reservoir in the ESEM chamber. The water reservoir is established by local condensation on a Peltier-cooled surface. A fixture was designed to make the experimental setup compatible with the standard Peltier cooling stage of the microscope. The developed technique was successfully applied to individual cellulose fibers, and the absorption and transport of water by individual cellulose fibers were imaged.

Keywords

environmental scanning electron microscopyin situcellulose fibermanipulatorwater transportswelling
Type
Software, Techniques and Equipment Development
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 19 , Issue 1 , February 2013 , pp. 30 - 37
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 2013

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

†

Present address: Epsilon AB, SE-41756, Gothenburg, Sweden

References

Camacho-Bragado, G.A., Dixon, F. & Colonna, A. (2011). Characterization of the response to moisture of talc and perlite in the environmental scanning electron microscope. Micron 42, 257–262.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gellerstedt, F., Wågberg, L. & Gatenholm, P. (2000). Swelling behaviour of succinylated fibers. Cellulose 7, 67–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenkins, L.M. & Donald, A.M. (1997). Use of the environmental scanning electron microscope for the observation of the swelling behaviour of cellulosic fibres. Scanning 19, 92–97.Google Scholar
Jenkins, L.M. & Donald, A.M. (1999). Contact angle measurements on fibers in the environmental scanning electron microscope. Langmuir 15, 7829–7835.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenkins, L.M. & Donald, A.M. (2000). Observing fibers swelling in water with an environmental scanning electron microscope. Text Res J 70(3), 269–276.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karlsson, J.O., Andersson, M., Berntsson, P., Chihani, T. & Gatenholm, P. (1998). Swelling behavior of stimuli-responsive cellulose fibers. Polymer 39(16), 3589–3595.Google Scholar
Liukkonen, A. (1997). Contact angle of water on paper components: Sessile drops versus environmental scanning electron microscope measurements. Scanning 19, 411–415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Montes-H, G., Geraud, Y., Duplay, J. & Reuschlé, T. (2005). ESEM observations of compacted bentonite submitted to hydration/dehydration conditions. Colloids Surf A 262, 14–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reingruber, H., Pölt, P. & Holst, B. (2007). New micro- and nano-scale imaging methods for fluid and gas transport through porous media. In 5th World Congress on Industrial Process Tomography, pp. 23–28. Bergen, Norway: The Virtual Centre for Industrial Process Tomography.Google Scholar
Roman-Gutierrez, A.D., Guilbert, S. & Cuq, B. (2002). Description of microstructural changes in wheat flour and flour components during hydration by using environmental scanning electron microscopy. LWT—Food Sci Technol 35, 730–740.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stokes, D.J. (2003). Recent advances in electron imaging, image interpretation and applications: Environmental scanning electron microscopy. Philos T R Soc London 361, 2771–2787.Google Scholar
Stokes, D.J. (2008). Principles and Practice of Variable Pressure/Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy (VP-ESEM). West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons Ltd. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Svensson, K., Jompol, Y., Olin, H. & Olsson, E. (2003). Compact design of a transmission electron microscope-scanning tunneling microscope holder with three-dimensional coarse motion. Rev Sci Instrum 74(11), 4945–4947.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wei, Q., Li, Q., Wang, X., Huang, F. & Gao, W. (2006). Dynamic water adsorption behaviour of plasma-treated polypropylene nonwovens. Polym Test 25, 717–722.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wei, Q., Mather, R.R., Fotheringham, A.F. & Yang, R.D. (2002). Observation of wetting behavior of polypropylene microfibers by environmental scanning electron microscope. Aerosol Sci 33, 1589–1593.Google Scholar