The scanning electron microscope

A scanning electron microscope (SEM) is a powerful microscope which delivers high resolution surface images with a wide range of magnifications - from about 10 times (close to that of a powerful hand-lens) to more than 500,000 times.

A SEM image can thus reveal details of a surface as small as a few nanometres (nm) and up to a few millimeters (mm).

A SEM coupled with an x-ray based analysis can be used to determine the chemical composition surface under investigation.

The tunnelling electron microscope

A tunnelling electron microscope (TEM) supplies images of even higher magnification than the SEM, but it requires ultra thin sample specimens. A TEM can show details as small as a single column of atoms.

With a TEM it is also possible to determine chemical identity, crystal orientation and electronic structure in the investigated sample.

Using SEM and TEM

With  SEM and TEM, it is possible to obtain detailed information on micro and macro structures as well as the chemical composition of the materials and components used in our fuel cells and fuel cell stacks.

This information is vital for the continued development of all the components constituting a fuel cell stack and for understanding how these components interact and change under different operating conditions. This information is used when predicting and optimizing for example stack performance and lifetime.