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Nanoscale chemical analysis of beam‐sensitive polymeric materials by cryogenic electron microscopy
Author(s) -
Leijten Zino J. W. A.,
Wirix Maarten J. M.,
Lazar Sorin,
Verhoeven Wouter,
Luiten O. Jom,
With Gijsbertus,
Friedrich Heiner
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2642-4169
pISSN - 2642-4150
DOI - 10.1002/pol.20210012
Subject(s) - nanoscopic scale , polymer , materials science , degradation (telecommunications) , oxygen , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , scanning electron microscope , electron microscope , cathode ray , photochemistry , analytical chemistry (journal) , chemistry , electron , optics , organic chemistry , composite material , physics , engineering , telecommunications , quantum mechanics , computer science
Abstract Nanoscale chemical analysis of functional polymer systems by electron microscopy, to gain access into degradation processes during the materials life cycle, is still a formidable challenge due to their beam sensitivity. Here a systematic study on the different stages of degradation in a P3HT‐PCBM organic photovoltaic (OPV) model system is presented. To this end pristine samples, samples with (reversibly) physisorbed oxygen and water and samples with (irreversibly) chemisorbed oxygen and water are imaged utilizing the full capabilities of cryogenic STEM‐EELS. It is found that oxygen and water are largely physisorbed in this system leading to significant effects on the band structure, especially for PCBM. Quantification proves that degradation concomitantly decreases the amount of CC bonds and increases the amount of COC bonds in the sample. Finally, it is shown that with a pulsed electron beam utilizing a microwave cavity, beam damage can be significantly reduced which likely extends the possibilities for such studies in future.