01822
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.
Carbon Type-A
Carbon support films with a removable Formvar on the opposite side of the grid. When the Formvar is removed, by dipping in solvent, a pure carbon film remains. (Note: The Ultrathin Carbon Film on a Lacey Carbon Support Film, Prod. No. 01824, has no Formvar backing.) These films are stable under all EM operating conditions and are for use where the presence of a Formvar layer cannot be tolerated. Pure carbon films tend to be more delicate than those with a Formvar backing and require more delicate handling during specimen preparation than most other support films.
Ultrathin Carbon Type-A: Carbon support film of approximately 3nm thickness.