Direct Detailed Surface Structure Imaging of Mesoporous Silica by Low-Voltage Scanning Electron Microscopy
Source abstract
Abstract
Mesoporous silica and its derivatives might enable applications ranging from biomedicine to petrochemical processing. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and N2 adsorption–desorption measurements are usually used to characterize the ordered porous system. However, none of these methods convey the full surface information. In this work, a low-voltage scanning electron microscope (LVSEM) with beam deceleration technology was employed to image detailed surface structures of ~2 nm pore size silica (MCM-41), SBA-15, KIT-6, and mesoporous silica nanospheres (MSNSs). The prospects for the development of this application of ultra-high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (SEM) are discussed in the characterization of the ordered porous materials. We demonstrate that the complete dimension range of the mesoscopic surface structure (2–50 nm) could be resolved by current low-voltage SEM technology.
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Research context
OpenAlex topics: Mesoporous Materials and Catalysis · Electron and X-Ray Spectroscopy Techniques · Advanced Electron Microscopy Techniques and Applications
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Institute of Biopharmaceutical and Health Engineering, Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 518055, China
Research Institute of Tsinghua University in Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518057, China
National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials, College of Engineering and Applied Science and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
Funding
Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, China · National Natural Science Foundation of China · Jiangsu Provincial Postgraduate Research and Practice Innovation Program
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