Over the years, we have received a number of questions about the optical clarity of our polycarbonate (PCTE) membrane filters. Optically clear membranes are of importance when viewing plankton from the Antarctic under a microscope, manufacturing porous PDMS chambers, epifluorescent microscopy, and numerous other applications studies or even unmanned biology missions into space! All of our polycarbonate membrane filters are made by the same process, track-etching, but the clarity of our filters varies based on both the use of the base film (amorphous or crystalline– we use both) as well as the pore size and density. To shed some light on (or through) the matter of our filters' optical clarity we put together a handy infographic that you can check out at the bottom of this page.
Amorphous polycarbonate has no defined molecular arrangement within the film, and as such tends to show greate