REFLECTIONS ON THE USE OF MICROTOMY FOR MATERIALS SCIENCE SPECIMEN PREPARATION

Since 1972 the author and colleagues at Ford Motor Company have been p ublishing results of materials analyses which were obtained using ambi ent temperature or cryomicrotomy as one of the sample preparation tech niques. Generally two types of sectioning, thin and ultrathin, were pu rsued for light-optical and electron-optical microscopy, respectively. These papers include the study of the following materials, which have been separated into nine classes: polymer composites, polymer blends, reverse osmosis membranes, carbon fibers, elastomers, automotive exha ust catalysts, aluminum surface coatings, aluminum alloy automotive wh eels, and rapidly solidified aluminum alloys. This review is not inten ded to reiterate the conclusions of these prior publications but will provide the reader with an insight into the many ways microtomy can be used for materials studies.