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Progress in emerging techniques for characterization of immobilized viable whole-cell biocatalysts. CHEMICAL PAPERS 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s11696-017-0243-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
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Masters RC, Pearson AJ, Glen TS, Sasam FC, Li L, Dapor M, Donald AM, Lidzey DG, Rodenburg C. Sub-nanometre resolution imaging of polymer-fullerene photovoltaic blends using energy-filtered scanning electron microscopy. Nat Commun 2015; 6:6928. [PMID: 25906738 PMCID: PMC4423221 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms7928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2014] [Accepted: 03/16/2015] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
The resolution capability of the scanning electron microscope has increased immensely in recent years, and is now within the sub-nanometre range, at least for inorganic materials. An equivalent advance has not yet been achieved for imaging the morphologies of nanostructured organic materials, such as organic photovoltaic blends. Here we show that energy-selective secondary electron detection can be used to obtain high-contrast, material-specific images of an organic photovoltaic blend. We also find that we can differentiate mixed phases from pure material phases in our data. The lateral resolution demonstrated is twice that previously reported from secondary electron imaging. Our results suggest that our energy-filtered scanning electron microscopy approach will be able to make major inroads into the understanding of complex, nano-structured organic materials. Morphological characterization of organic photovoltaic active layers is restricted by the lack of accurate chemical mapping tools. Here, the authors demonstrate an energy-filtered scanning electron microscopy technique, which enables sub-nanometre resolution imaging of an organic photovoltaic blend.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert C Masters
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sir Robert Hadfield Building, Mappin Street, Sheffield S1 3JD, UK
| | - Andrew J Pearson
- Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, Cavendish Laboratory, 19 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK
| | - Tom S Glen
- Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, Cavendish Laboratory, 19 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK
| | - Fabian-Cyril Sasam
- FEI Co. Europe NanoPort, Achtseweg Noord 5, Eindhoven, 5651 GG, The Netherlands
| | - Letian Li
- FEI Co. Europe NanoPort, Achtseweg Noord 5, Eindhoven, 5651 GG, The Netherlands
| | - Maurizio Dapor
- European Centre for Theoretical Studies in Nuclear Physics and Related Areas (ECT*-FBK) and Trento Institute for Fundamental Physics and Applications (TIFPA-INFN), via Sommarive 18, Trento I-38123, Italy
| | - Athene M Donald
- Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, Cavendish Laboratory, 19 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK
| | - David G Lidzey
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, Hicks Building, Hounsfield Road, Sheffield S3 7RH, UK
| | - Cornelia Rodenburg
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sir Robert Hadfield Building, Mappin Street, Sheffield S1 3JD, UK
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