Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering (BAICAS), State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China.
Chem Soc Rev. 2020 Apr 21;49(8):2408-2425. doi: 10.1039/c8cs00061a. Epub 2020 Mar 5.
The development of materials science always benefits from advanced characterizations. Currently, imaging techniques are of great technological importance in both fundamental and applied research on materials. In comparison to conventional visualization methods, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) is non-invasive, with macroscale and high-contrast scanning, a simple and fast sample preparation procedure as well as easy operation. In addition, CLSM allows rapid acquisition of longitudinal and cross-sectional images at any position in a material. Therefore, the CLSM-based visualization technique could provide direct and model-independent insight into material characterizations. This review summarizes the recent applications of CLSM in materials science. The current CLSM approaches for the visualization of surface structures, internal structures, spatial structures and reaction processes are discussed in detail. Finally, we provide our thoughts and predictions on the future development of CLSM in materials science. The purpose of this review is to guide researchers to build a suitable CLSM approach for material characterizations, and to open viable opportunities and inspirations for the development of new strategies aiming at the preparation of advanced materials. We hope that this review will be useful for a wide range of research communities of materials science, chemistry, and engineering.
材料科学的发展总是受益于先进的表征技术。目前，成像技术在材料的基础研究和应用研究中都具有重要的技术意义。与传统的可视化方法相比，共焦激光扫描显微镜（CLSM）具有非侵入性、宏观和高对比度扫描、简单快速的样品制备程序以及易于操作等优点。此外，CLSM 允许在材料中的任何位置快速获取纵向和横截面图像。因此，基于 CLSM 的可视化技术可以为材料特性提供直接和无需模型的见解。
本综述总结了近年来 CLSM 在材料科学中的应用。详细讨论了当前用于表面结构、内部结构、空间结构和反应过程可视化的 CLSM 方法。最后，我们对 CLSM 在材料科学中的未来发展提出了我们的想法和预测。
本综述的目的是指导研究人员为材料特性构建合适的 CLSM 方法，并为旨在制备先进材料的新策略的发展开辟可行的机会和灵感。我们希望本综述将对材料科学、化学和工程等广泛的研究群体有用。
