01881
Substrates, Support Films
for Transmission Electron Microscopy Grids
PELCO® TEM grid Support Films of Formvar, Formvar/Carbon, Carbon, and Silicon Monoxide are available on the following 3.05mm O.D. grids: 0.4 x 2mm single slot Cu, 75 mesh Cu, 200 mesh Cu,Ni or Au, 200 mesh Hex Mo, 300 mesh Cu, Ni or Au, 300 mesh Hex Mo, and 400 mesh Cu, Ni, Au, Al, Ti and stainless steel.
Support films on the finer mesh grids can withstand considerable handling during specimen preparation. Those on slot and 75 mesh grids require more gentle handling and are ideal for those applications requiring large viewing areas without grid bar interference.
Our popular line of PELCO NetMesh™ Grids (our trademarked lacey films) are available on 200, 300 and 400 mesh grids. These robust films allow for viewing of specimens without interference from underlying support film material.
The complete PELCO® line of support films meets the requirements of most applications in all fields of electron microscopy.
TEM Support Film Product Note, How Material is Layered on the Grid.
Consult the Support Film / Substrate Application Guide below for suggestions on support film choice:
PELCO® TEM Grid Support Film Application Guide
This Support Film Application Guide will help you determine what support film to use for your particular transmission electron microscopy project. Once you have decided which substrate best suits your needs, you can go back up on the page for a listing of available Support Films and pricing.
Substrate Application |
Formvar Only |
Formvar Stabilized with Carbon |
Silicon Monoxide on Formvar |
Silicon Monoxide on Type-A |
Carbon Type-A |
Carbon Type-B |
Pure Carbon Film |
Is Lacey Film suitable for this application? |
Applications Requiring Pure Formvar | B | - | - | - | - | - | - | No |
Bacterial Suspensions | - | G | B | B | B | B | B | Yes |
Cell Fragment Suspensions | - | B | B | B | B | B | B | Yes |
Diffraction Studies | - | - | G | G | B | B | B | Yes |
EDS (energy dispersive spectrometry) | - | G | - | - | B | B | G | Yes |
High Resolution Microscopy | - | G | G | B | B | B | B | Yes |
High Temperature Techniques / Heating Stage | - | - | - | G | B | - | B |
Yes (Type A) |
Low Magnification Microscopy | G | B | B | G | G | B | G | No |
Particulate Suspension, Biological | - | G | B | B | B | B | B | Yes |
Particulate Suspension, Non-biological | - | G | B | B | B | B | B | Yes |
Powders, Dry | - | G | B | G | G | B | G | No |
Replicas & Low Temperature Techniques | G | B | - | - | G | B | G |
Yes (Type-A) |
Thin Sections | G | B | G | B | G | B | G | Yes |
Viral Suspensions | - | G | G | B | B | B | B | Yes |
Typically packaged in PELCO® TEM Grid Storage Box (Product Number 160) but is subject to change to other equally suitable grid storage boxes.
Lacey Support Films - PELCO NetMesh™ Grids
A lacey network support film. The holes in the lacey support film vary in size from less than a quarter micron to more than 10 microns making them ideal for any type of specimen. Lacey support films are extremely strong and withstand vigorous specimen preparation treatment. The specimen material is supported by the film network but lies across or protrudes into the holes of the mesh. This allows high definition imaging without the effects of underlying support material. Lacey films can be used for specimens ranging from large crystals and other particulate material to virus particles. Smaller particles, such as viruses or bacteria, tend to adhere around the inner edges of the holes, an ideal situation for high resolution microscopy. Lacey films are also ideal for selected area electron diffraction imaging.
Lacey Formvar Stabilized with Carbon: A Lacey Formvar film with the lacey structure enforced by a heavy coating of carbon. Holes are completely open.