イオン液体を用いたソフトマテリアルの電子顕微鏡観察

抄録

Ionic liquid, which is salt melted even at room temperature, can be observed by scanning electron microscopes without charging. This fact implies that ionic liquid can be utilized as a liquid material to put conductivity to insulating samples for their scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation. This method is, in particular, effective for SEM observation of the soft materials like biological materials and polymer materials. As ionic liquid can reach to any place even at lumpy or fluffy surfaces, charge up of the samples is completely suppressed. Furthermore, keeping wet condition prevents change in the sample shape under vacuum condition. Such the advantage raises the precision of SEM images of soft materials.