Abstract
Much importance attaches at the present time to the use of ultrathin sections for the investigation of the structure of polymeric materials by electron microscopy, electron diffraction and other methods. Extremely thin sections (down to hundredths of a micron) can be prepared by means of ultramicrotomes in which thermal regulation of the feed of the specimen is provided. The use of ultramicrotomes in various branches of sciences has given valuable information on the fine structure of many substances. In the present article we describe the use of the ultrathin section method for the investigation of the structure of polymers by means of an ultramicrotome of the “Sjostrand Ultra-microtome LKB-Producter” type. As a result of the elasticity of polymeric materials the preparation of thin sections is rendered difficult. Therefore the development of a method of producing ultrathin sections of polymeric materials is of considerable interest. We have developed such a method for the study of the structure of thin polymeric fibers (of diameter 15 to 20 µ) of thick monofilament (of diameter 0.5 mm and above) and also of films. The technique of preparation of ultrathin sections consists of the following stages: 1) embedding the specimens for investigation; 2) preparation of the specimen for cutting; 3) preparation of the knives; and 4) preparation of the apparatus and cutting.