High-Angle Annular Dark Field Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy on Carbon-Based Functional Polymer Systems

作者：Sourty Erwan; van Bavel Svetlana; Lu Kangbo; Guerra Ralph; Bar Georg; Loos Joachim^*

来源：Microscopy and Microanalysis, 2009, 15(3): 251-258.

DOI：10.1017/S1431927609090278

• transmission electron microscopy
• scanning transmission electron microscopy
• high-angle annular dark field
• functional polymer systems
• TEM contrast

Two purely carbon-based functional polymer systems were investigated by bright-field conventional transmission electron microscopy (CTEM) and high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM). For a carbon black (CB) filled polymer system, HAADF-STEM provides high contrast between the CB agglomerates and the polymer matrix so that details of the interface organization easily can be revealed and assignment of the CB phase is straightforward. For a second system, the functional polymer blend representing the photoactive layer of a polymer solar cell, details of its nanoscale organization could be observed that were not accessible with CTEM. By varying the camera length in HAADF-STEM imaging, the contrast can be enhanced between crystalline and amorphous compounds due to diffraction contrast so that nanoscale interconnections between domains are identified. In general, due to its incoherent imaging characteristics HAADF-STEM allows for reliable interpretation of the data obtained.

• 出版日期2009-6