Ptychographic X-ray computed tomography of porous membranes with nanoscale resolution

New visualization methods can be utilized to resolve structures at resolutions that were previously unachievable. 3D images of porous materials with high resolution have been so far obtained using transmission electron tomography or focused ion beam coupled with scanning electron microscopy. For the...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Communications materials 2023-09, Vol.4 (1), p.68-8, Article 68
Main Authors: Górecki, Radosław, Polo, Carla Cristina, Kalile, Tiago Araujo, Miqueles, Eduardo X. S., Tonin, Yuri R., Upadhyaya, Lakshmeesha, Meneau, Florian, Nunes, Suzana P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
639/301
639/925
Chemistry and Materials Science
Computed tomography
High vacuum
Ion beams
Materials Science
Membranes
Nondestructive testing
Penetration depth
Polyetherimides
Pore size distribution
Porous materials
Tomography
Visualization
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:New visualization methods can be utilized to resolve structures at resolutions that were previously unachievable. 3D images of porous materials with high resolution have been so far obtained using transmission electron tomography or focused ion beam coupled with scanning electron microscopy. For these methods, ultra-vacuum is required, and only a small volume of the sample is visualized. Here, we demonstrate the application of ptychographic X-ray computed tomography for the visualization of soft matter with a resolution of 26 nm over large fields of view. Thanks to the high-penetration depth of the X-ray beam, we visualize the 3D complex porous structure of polyetherimide hollow fibers in a non-destructive manner and obtain quantitative information about pore size distribution and pore network interconnectivity across the whole membrane wall. The non-destructive nature of this method, coupled with its ability to image samples without requiring modification or a high vacuum environment, makes it valuable in the fields of porous- and nano-material sciences enabling imaging under different environmental conditions. The maximum 3D morphology resolution of porous materials without vacuum has been limited to hundreds nanometer range. Here, ptychographic x-ray computed tomography has been demonstrated to study in situ polymeric membranes at nanoscale resolution with large visualization volumes.
ISSN:2662-4443
2662-4443
DOI:10.1038/s43246-023-00396-x