Based on our previous finding that room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) can be used as electrolyte solutions without any solvent for in situ observation of electrochemical reactions by a scanning electron microscope (SEM), a variety of techniques with a specifically designed electrochemical cell and electrolytes have been developed for observation of electrochemical metal deposition from RTIL in real time by SEM. Two types of cells were assembled; i.e. a platinum-coated glass slide whose surface was divided into three regions and a glass cell, which can be moved down during observation, except for the working electrode. A novel polymer composite material consisting of poly (vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVdF-HFP) and RTIL of 1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis (trifluoromethylsulfonyl) amide (BMI-TFSA) was prepared as a polymer gel electrolyte.
