Phenom xl sem

Nabis rugosus specimens preserved in ethanol were used. The antennae were detached from the head with scalpels using an Olympus stereomicroscope (SZX7) and washed using an ultrasound cleaner (Polsonic, Warsaw, Poland) for about a minute. The antennae were dehydrated using ethanol solutions ranging from 80% to 90% for 15 min, bathed twice with absolute ethanol for about 10 min, and then dried at room temperature. These specimens were placed over the carbon tapes and, to enhance the conductivity of these materials, the surfaces were coated with gold spray sputter (20 nm) using a Quorum 150T ES Plus (Quorum Technologies, Laughton, East Sussex, UK). At the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of Silesia in Katowice, images of these specimens were captured using a Hitachi UHR FE-SEM SU 8010 (High Technologies, Tokyo, Japan) and Phenom XL SEM (Phenom-World, the Netherlands) [16 (link)].

The SEM images of internal inclusions from selected bromalites were taken using the Phenom XL SEM, PhenomWorld (ThermoFisher Scientific, Eindhoven, The Netherlands) equipped with an energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) detector, installed in the Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Silesia in Katowice in low-vacuum settings with accelerating voltage 15 kV. Composite images were collected using Phenom SEM software, then stitched and processed using Image Composite Editor by Microsoft Research.

Lyophilized 0.5% alginate hydrosols were C-coated using an EMITECH K950X Turbo Evaporator (Quorum Technologies Ltd., UK). All samples were imaged in a Phenom XL SEM (Phenom-World B.V., The Netherlands) under high vacuum at 5 kV and a 5 mm working distance.