Four-dimensional spectral tomography of carbonaceous nanocomposites

There is considerable interest in the adhesion of polymers to carbon nanotubes for nanocomposite applications.(1-4) One example is multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) dispersed in nylon 6,6.(5) We will show that high-contrast tomographic reconstructions can be created from plasmon-loss electrons that show the three-dimensional structural complexity of the MWCNT-nylon composite at the nanoscale. Further, by recording a series of energy-loss images at successive tilts, it is possible to interrogate subvolumes to extract energy-loss spectra from the reconstructed volume spectra.