Abstract
Detailed investigation of the morphology of the pore space in clay is a key factor in understanding the sealing capacity, coupled flows, capillary processes and associated deformation present in mudstones. Actually, the combination of ion milling tools (FIB and BIB), cryogenic techniques and SEM imaging offers a new alternative to study in-situ elusive microstructures in wet geomaterials and has the high potential to make a step change in our understanding of how fluids occur in pore space. By using this range of techniques, it is possible to quantify porosity, stabilize in-situ fluids in pore space, preserve the natural structures at nm-scale, produce high quality polished cross-sections for high resolution SEM imaging and reconstruct accurately microstructure networks in 3D by serial cross sectioning.
Highlights
In fluid-filled porous geomaterials, fluid-rock interactions have important effects on their physical and chemical properties
Because the porosity is intimately linked to coupled flows, capillary processes, permeability and associated deformation, a key factor to understanding these processes is a detailed understanding of the morphology of the pore space
The presence of fluid in pores is not required to study the morphology of porosity because an empty pore provides better SE contrast and a
Summary
In fluid-filled porous geomaterials, fluid-rock interactions have important effects on their physical and chemical properties. The recent development of ion milling tools (Broad Ion Beam, BIB and Focused Ion Beam, FIB) and cryo-SEM allows respectively producing exceptional high quality polished cross-sections suitable for high resolution porosity SEM imaging at nm-scale and investigating samples under wet conditions by cryogenic stabilization. 3.1 In-situ fluids imaging and freeze-drying process Figure 2 shows FIB-polished cross sections of shock-frozen wet samples.
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