English Abstract

Analysis of Rubber Nanostructures by Energy-Filtering Transmission Electron Microscopy Shin HORIUCHI Nanotechnology Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan Nippon Gomu Kyokaishi,(2006),79(10),494-499 General Review in Japanese Abstract Energy-filtering transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM) was employed for investigating accelerated vulcanized rubber nanostructures. The principle of EFTEM was outlined and the investigation of rubber nanostructures by combining elemental mapping and EELS was demonstrated. We showed that EFTEM allows us to create elemental distribution images and to perform quantitative elemental analysis of rubbers with the spatial resolutions of approximately 10 nm and with 0.5 atomic % detection sensitivity. Rubber/ZnO interfaces in the accelerated rubber mixtures were investigated and it was found that ZnS were generated around ZnO particles as a byproduct in the vulcanization process. This provides valuable information on the mechanism of the accelerated vulcanization. Keywords: EFTEM, Elemental Mapping, EELS, Rubber, ZnO, Interface

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