Scanning Electron Microscopy Study of the Kinetics of a Gas-Solid Reaction

Transmission electron microscopy has been used in combination with gold decoration to obtain some important discoveries underlying gas-carbon reaction kinetics. This technique requires cleavage of the sample to about 700 Å thickness. In this study, it has been demonstrated that the same results by TEM can also be obtained by a much easier technique by use of scanning electron microscopy and gold decoration. Furthermore, the SEM technique is applicable to uncleavable materials and It provides additional microscopic information on the surface.