The Staining of Polymers

Abstract In the beginning there was water-the first stain that delineated structure within a polymeric system. The polymerwas natural rubber (NR) and the system was an air-dried film of natural latex. Grenquist reported in 1929 that a dried film of natural rubber latex soaked in hot water became milky (Figure 1) and, at that stage, the latex particles could be detected by the optical microscope (OM), The contrast mechanism was provided by the absorption of water by the naturally occurring proteinaceous layers present on the congealed NR particle surfaces. There was little demand for polymer staining until the age of electron microscopy.