Patterson Joseph P, Sanchez Ana M, Petzetakis Nikos, Smart Thomas P, Epps Thomas H, Portman Ian, Wilson Neil R, O'Reilly Rachel K
University of Warwick, Department of Chemistry, Gibbet Hill Road, Coventry, CV4 7AL, United Kingdom. ; Tel: +0247 652 3236.
Soft Matter. 2012 Mar 28;8(12):3322-3328. doi: 10.1039/C2SM07040E.
Block copolymers are well-known to self-assemble into a range of 3-dimensional morphologies. However, due to their nanoscale dimensions, resolving their exact structure can be a challenge. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is a powerful technique for achieving this, but for polymeric assemblies chemical fixing/staining techniques are usually required to increase image contrast and protect specimens from electron beam damage. Graphene oxide (GO) is a robust, water-dispersable, and nearly electron transparent membrane: an ideal support for TEM. We show that when using GO supports no stains are required to acquire high contrast TEM images and that the specimens remain stable under the electron beam for long periods, allowing sample analysis by a range of electron microscopy techniques. GO supports are also used for further characterization of assemblies by atomic force microscopy. The simplicity of sample preparation and analysis, as well as the potential for significantly increased contrast background, make GO supports an attractive alternative for the analysis of block copolymer assemblies.
嵌段共聚物以自组装成一系列三维形态而闻名。然而，由于其纳米级尺寸，解析其精确结构可能具有挑战性。透射电子显微镜（TEM）是实现这一目标的强大技术，但对于聚合物组装体，通常需要化学固定/染色技术来提高图像对比度并保护标本免受电子束损伤。氧化石墨烯（GO）是一种坚固、可水分散且几乎电子透明的膜：是TEM的理想支撑体。我们表明，当使用GO支撑体时，无需染色即可获得高对比度的TEM图像，并且标本在电子束下长时间保持稳定，从而允许通过一系列电子显微镜技术进行样品分析。GO支撑体还用于通过原子力显微镜对组装体进行进一步表征。样品制备和分析的简单性，以及显著增加对比度背景的潜力，使GO支撑体成为分析嵌段共聚物组装体的有吸引力的替代方案。
