Mid annular region (r ≈ 0.5 r0)
Rinds of MP6 around large pods of f.g. ice.
Close up of MP6 rinds suggests MP6 wicking.
| LAS narrative 12/2/11 paraphrased: Perchlorate (MP6) in sample 657 was not uniformly mixed. A mid (annular) section of the sample showed lots of clumping, with large pods (from several hundred microns up to 1 mm in length) made up of fine grain ice, and with a rind of perchlorate around the pod. (This reminded me of problems we had with fine dust mixtures.) Other areas of sample did not show the "pods" however, and instead showed individual grains of fine-grained ice either rimmed by perchlorate or in contact with other grains of ice. Not exactly what we were expecting to see, but at least we got a lot of photos and were able to look at numerous sections of his sample. All in all it was an excellent 3-day session on the SEM despite a few technical problems at the start. |
Mid annular region (r ≈ 0.5 r0) |
Rinds of MP6 around large pods of f.g. ice.
Close up of MP6 rinds suggests MP6 wicking. |
Near sample center |
MP6 was hard to find in this part of the sample. It was mostly just f.g. ice.
Interesting variations in (sublimated) surface texture of ice grains
But there was some MP6. Note in these images possible signs of wicking into ice-ice grain boundaries. Can also see a sometimes typical MP6 "bubbling" like pancake batter under vacuum/electron beam, expecially in the last image. |
Sample center 2 |
Sample firmly clamped in holder allows submicron resolution image of f.g. ice.
Follow the progress of ice sublimation over a 45-min period |
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657_3
657_12
657_9
657_22
657_23
657-54