excellent for particulate specimens such as powders, particles, pollens, insects, dried samples and similar fine matter

Tempfix is a non-conductive thermoplastic hot melt adhesive resin, especially formulated for SEM studies.
It does not contain solvents and is stable under high vacuum.

Its adhesive characteristics appear in the 40-120 °C range.
Melting starts at 40 °C and it becomes a thin fluid at 120 °C, displaying a wide viscosity range.
It has a very smooth surface and can be used in SEM imaging without interfering background.

Preparing specimens requires a hot plate or heating block, aluminum sheets of 10x10x0.25mm used as specimen mounts, a metal cooling block and a pin stub type specimen holder with a side clamping screw on top.
The aluminum sheet is warmed up to about 120 °C and a small amount of Tempfix is applied and smoothed over the sheet.
Excess resin is removed. After the sheet has cooled down, Tempfix is a solid smooth plastic surface.
Particulate or other small samples may be sprinkled or applied on the solid plastic surface and the sheet is gently heated above 40 °C to the desired viscosity.

Use temperature to control viscosity and how far the particulates “sink” into the adhesive.
Remove the sheet and cool it quickly on a metal block.

Delicate specimens will likely not suffer heat damage. A thin conductive coating (sputtering or evaporation) might be needed for optimum imaging results.

The aluminum sheet with the specimen can either be mounted on the supplied pin mount adapter with clamping screw or can be mounted on a specific SEM mount with a conductive adhesive carbon tab.

Technical Note

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MSDS

Download Material Safety Data Sheet