Issue 7, 2023

Atomic layer deposition enables multi-modal three-dimensional electron microscopy of isoporous membranes

Abstract

Block copolymers (BCPs) are promising materials for water purification. They enable the fabrication of integral asymmetric isoporous membranes with high permeability and good selectivity. Commonly, the characterization of such hierarchical structures is performed by conventional electron microscopy (EM) means, namely scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM, respectively). However, due to the inherent lack of contrast between BCP domains, external contrast agents are required to achieve informative, high-resolution imaging. In addition, such EM techniques are typically limited to a certain cross-section or surface morphology only. In this paper, we harness the selective growth of AlOx in the pore-forming domains of BCPs to create an internal and stable contrast difference between the blocks. This in turn allowed us to perform advanced three-dimensional characterization of the membranes with focused ion beam (FIB)-SEM and TEM tomography, providing an understanding of the 3D structure and properties such as 3D geometry of the pores, 3D tortuosity, and 3D permeability. This 3D characterization also provides better correlations between the membrane structure and its performance. Such knowledge can allow better design and fine-tuning of BCP membranes and other membranes for their applications.

Graphical abstract: Atomic layer deposition enables multi-modal three-dimensional electron microscopy of isoporous membranes

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
03 Okt. 2022
Accepted
27 Dec. 2022
First published
03 Janv. 2023
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Nanoscale, 2023,15, 3219-3229

Atomic layer deposition enables multi-modal three-dimensional electron microscopy of isoporous membranes

A. Simon, Z. Zhang, C. Abetz, V. Abetz and T. Segal-Peretz, Nanoscale, 2023, 15, 3219 DOI: 10.1039/D2NR05477A

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