Dimension 3100 microscope

Single-layer hBN was grown on Ir(111) in an ultra-high vacuum setup via CVD by using borazine (Katchem) as a precursor. The Ir single-crystal (Mateck) was cleaned by Ar sputtering at 2 keV followed by heating in oxygen at 1170 K and annealing at 1470 K. Unless otherwise noted, the borazine pressure during CVD was 10⁻⁸ mbar and the temperature was 1170 K. An Elmitec SPE-LEEM III microscope was used to carry out in-situ, bright field LEEM and μ-LEED measurements. AFM measurements were performed ex-situ in air with a Veeco Dimension 3100 microscope operated in tapping mode.

The specific surface area of the fibers was determined by Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller (BET) nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms at −195 °C in a surface area analyzer (ASAP 2020 V3.04H, Micromeritics Co. Norcross, GA, USA). Prior to determination, the sample was degassed for 3 h at 80 °C under vacuum (P/P₀ = 0.25) to remove moisture and any other contaminants.
The surface micro-morphological structures of the exterior and interior surfaces of the samples were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM, S-3400 N, Hitachi Ltd. Tokyo, Japan) at a voltage of 15 kV. Specimens were prepared for SEM inspection by placing the samples on carbon glue and then plating them with Pt (7 nm). Ultrathin sections of fibers were utilized to observe the changes in cell walls detected by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). TEM was conducted on a JEM-2100 microscope (JEOL, Tokyo, Japan). AFM was conducted on a Dimension 3100 microscope (Veeco Instruments Inc. Plainview, NY, USA). Images were captured using silicone cantilevers. The scanning rate ranged from 0.5 to 1.5 Hz.

Optical microscope images of the devices were acquired during and after the fabrication with a BX51 microscope (Olympus, Tokyo, Japan) equipped with an F-View II camera controlled by CellB Software. For obtaining information on the effect of the sealing process on the nanostructures, both the patchwork replica and the one without h-PDMS were brought into conformational contact with a clean glass substrate. 81 Norland Optical Adhesive (NOA, Cranbury, NJ, USA) resin, previously diluted in acetone (1:1 v/v), was inserted in one of the two microchannels, let fill the nanochannel, and cured under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation for 2 h with a 365 nm UV lamp (Biolink, Vilber Lourmat, Marne-la-Vallée, France). After curing, we peeled off the replicas and obtained two casts that were imaged by atomic force microscopy (AFM) that provided information on the geometry and size of the nanochannels after the device closure. The AFM measurements were performed in tapping mode by a Dimension 3100 microscope (Veeco Instruments, Plainview, NY, USA) and silicon nitride tip (Olympus). The software WSxM [37 (link)] was used to analyze and process the images.