Fig. 3: Mechanism of structural resilience during laser pyrolysis.

a DSC scans of PES membranes with and without SIS treatment showing the similar glass transition temperatures of the polymer in the two membranes. SEM image of the b PES (scale bar 2 µm) and c SIS-treated PES membranes (scale bar 2 µm) after DSC measurement showing the different pore structure between the two membranes after heating. d Storage and loss modulus measurements of PES and SIS-treated PES membranes. e Cross-section SEM image of lased, SIS-treated membrane (scale bar 4 µm) and f its EDX line-scan along the yellow arrow shown in the SEM image. Lower magnification top surface SEM images of g lased PES (scale bar 100 µm) and h SIS-treated PES membranes (scale bar 100 µm). i D to G band intensity ratios and full width at half max of the D band of Raman spectra of SIS-treated PES membranes lased at increasing laser powers. Error bars represent the standard deviation of repeated measurements.