Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
Microsc Microanal. 2012 Apr;18(2):365-70. doi: 10.1017/S1431927611012669. Epub 2012 Feb 27.
The possibility of scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectrometry analysis in microscale regions of insulating samples using diluted ionic liquid was investigated. It is possible to obtain clear secondary electron images of insulating samples such as a rock and mineral at 5,000 times magnification by dropping 10 μL of 1 wt% of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate (EMI-CH₃COO) diluted with ethanol onto the samples. We also obtained EDX spectra of the samples in microscale regions (~5 μm²) without overlapping EDX spectra of other minerals with different composition. It might be possible to perform quantitative analysis of the samples if a method that does not need standard samples is applied or an X-ray detector sensitive for light elements was attached. The method of dropping 1 wt% EMI-CH₃COO diluted with ethanol onto insulating samples is useful for SEM observation, EDX analysis in microscale regions, and the preservation of scarce rock and mineral samples because ionic liquid can be easily removed with acetone.
研究了使用稀释的离子液体在绝缘样品的微区进行扫描电子显微镜（SEM）观察和能量色散 X 射线（EDX）光谱分析的可能性。通过将 10μL 浓度为 1wt%的 1-乙基-3-甲基咪唑醋酸盐（EMI-CH₃COO）稀释在乙醇中滴加到样品上，可以获得 5000 倍放大倍数下岩石和矿物等绝缘样品的清晰二次电子图像。我们还在微区（约 5μm²）获得了样品的 EDX 光谱，而没有与其他具有不同成分的矿物的 EDX 光谱重叠。如果应用不需要标准样品的方法或附加对轻元素敏感的 X 射线探测器，则可能能够对样品进行定量分析。将 1wt% EMI-CH₃COO 稀释在乙醇中滴加到绝缘样品上的方法对于 SEM 观察、微区 EDX 分析和稀有岩石和矿物样品的保存非常有用，因为可以用丙酮轻松去除离子液体。
