Quorum 150

Membrane morphology was studied by scanning electron microscope SEM Zeiss SUPRA 55VP (Oberkochen, Germany). Before the test the sample surface was covered by a gold layer via cathode sputtering using the Quorum 150 (East Sussex, UK) installation.

The morphological structures were investigated using a Carl Zeiss Sigma Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM, Zeiss, Jena, Germany) at the Laboratorio de Microscopía y Análisis por Rayos X (LAMARX) of the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina. The samples were fixed to a brass stub using double-sided aluminum tape. They were gold-palladium coated under vacuum using a sputter coater (Quorum 150) in order to improve the conductivity of samples.

Surface and cross-section of the membranes were examined using a Zeiss SUPRA 55VP scanning electron microscope (SEM) (Carl Zeiss, Oberkochen, Germany) equipped with In-lens SE and SE2 secondary electron detectors, a secondary electron detector for low vacuum mode (VPSE), and a four-quadrant backscattered electron detector (AsB). All samples were sputtered with a 20 nm thick carbon layer using a Quorum 150 cathode sputtering installation (Quorum Technologies Ltd., Lewes, UK) before the experiment. To observe the morphology of the cross-sections, the dried membrane samples were cracked in liquid nitrogen.