Conductive cross-section preparation of non-conductive painting micro-samples for SEM analysis

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is a common method for the analysis of painting micro-samples. The high resolution of this technique offers precise surface analysis and can be coupled with an energy-dispersive spectrometer for the acquisition of the elemental composition. For light microscopy and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2022-11, Vol.12 (1), p.19650-19650, Article 19650
Main Authors: Jaques, Victory Armida Janine, Zikmundová, Eva, Holas, Jiří, Zikmund, Tomáš, Kaiser, Jozef, Holcová, Katarína
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
639/301/930/12
639/301/930/2735
639/301/930/328/1649
704/2151
Chemical composition
Cross-sections
Cultural heritage
Curing
Epoxy resins
Humanities and Social Sciences
Light microscopy
Morphology
multidisciplinary
Protective coatings
Scanning electron microscopy
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
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Summary:Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is a common method for the analysis of painting micro-samples. The high resolution of this technique offers precise surface analysis and can be coupled with an energy-dispersive spectrometer for the acquisition of the elemental composition. For light microscopy and SEM analysis, the painting micro-samples are commonly prepared as cross-sections, where the micro-sample positioned on the side is embedded in a resin. Therefore, the sequence of its layers is exposed after the cross-section is polished. In common cases outside of cultural heritage, a conductive layer is applied on the polished side, but in this field, the measurements are mostly done in low-vacuum SEM (LV-SEM). Although the charging effect is reduced in LV-SEM, it can still occur, and can hardly be prevented even with carbon tape or paint. This work presents two conductive cross-section preparation methods for non-conductive samples, which reduce charging effects without impairing the sample integrity.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-022-21882-1