From Glovebox to SEM: Best Practices for Air-Sensitive Sample Transfer Without Environmental Exposure

Abstract Air-sensitive materials (e.g., alkali metals, sulfide electrolytes, perovskites, and reactive catalysts) undergo rapid oxidation, hydrolysis, or structural degradation upon exposure to ambient air, oxygen, or moisture. For scanning electron microscopy (SEM) characterization—where surface morphology, elemental distribution, and microstructural integrity are critical—even brief air exposure can corrupt data, producing artifacts like oxide layers, surface roughening, […]