CHARACTERIZATION OF POLYMERIC MEMBRANES BY MEANS OF SCANNING FORCE MICROSCOPY (SFM) IN COMPARISON TO RESULTS OF SCANNING ELECTRON-MICROSCOPY (SEM)

Imaging with held emission SEM is a standard method for the investigat ion of polymeric membranes. But a metalisation of the sample is necess ary. Therefore radiation damages from the coating process can change t he membrane surface structure during the pretreatment duration. Sample s with variable pretreatment and metal layers with different thickness were imaged by means of SFM in the constant force mode and tapping mo de as well as by pneumatic SFM [1]. The results presented show that th e coating process could change the membrane structure from network-lik e to nodular structures and the SEM images seem to deliver false infor mation about the surface of the original membrane.