This episode of “Cool Stuff Under the Microscope” focusses on a kitchen sponges, a common household staple which are typically made from either cellulose wood fibres or foamed plastic polymers. Their use appears to be slowly decreasing, due to the potential concern around the growth of bacteria and fungi on the material as they absorb moisture very well, and may provide some nutrient source (e.g. in the case of cellulose fibres).

The following image was captured by analysing a small cut piece of the sponge on a glass slide through the Radical Microscope, with the images being focus stacked into one image (below). Images were captured with a Nikon D5300 Digital camera, with the focus stacking being carried out in Adobe Photoshop, and final editing being carried out in Lightroom.

The focus was slightly off as it was difficult to successfully create a small longitudinal cut, but the structure is nonetheless fascinating.

As always, if you have any idea's on things to image under the microscope don't hesitate to let me know either through this site or on social media.

Image: A Macro image (with a low depth of field), of a Kitchen Sponge.

Image: A Microscopic Image / Photomicrograph of a foamed plastic polymer kitchen sponge (this was a crushed piece)

Image: A Microscopic Image / Photomicrograph of a foamed plastic polymer kitchen sponge