Annealing of a Polymer Thin Film in Controlled Toluene Vapor on a Cypher ES AFM

This video highlights a key advantage of the Cypher ES: its fully sealed, pressure‑tight sample chamber. Many AFMs allow gas purging during imaging—for example, using argon to prevent oxidation or controlling humidity—and gas leakage into the lab is often acceptable. Here, however, we anneal a polymer thin film in toluene solvent vapor—definitely not a chemical you want vented into your lab air.

The fully sealed Cypher ES sample chamber allowed us to confidently flow the toluene vapor through the cell and then out into a solvent trap for safe capture. Besides the potential toxicity of toluene, it is also an aggressive solvent that will damage many plastics and elastomers. But the Cypher ES sample chamber is constructed with highly chemical resistant fluoropolymers and other materials that allow it to withstand a wide range of gas and liquid reagents.

The only thing affected by the toluene was the SEBS polymer thin film sample itself, whose nanostructure evolved during solvent vapor annealing. We captured these changes using fast tapping mode imaging at 10 lines per second, producing each frame in under a minute. Our blueDrive™ photothermal excitation ensured stable imaging conditions throughout the hour‑long experiment.

No other AFM combines this level of environmental control with such high‑speed, stable imaging performance.