Liquid phase transmission electron microscopy for imaging of nanoscale processes in solution
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roduction Solution-based processes are ubiquitous to many natural and industrial processes. However, the nanoscale details of solution processes are largely unknown because they are hard to explore using conventional characterization methods. A more direct approach for visualization and quantification of these processes is needed. Liquid phase transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is an imaging platform that enables visualizing these processes in real time by sandwiching ultrathin layer of the liquid specimen between electron transparent thin films and isolating the specimen from the high vacuum environment inside the microscope. Liquid phase TEM opens up opportunities to address long-lasting questions. How do solute atoms come together to form a solid phase?1–3 How do nanomaterials transform or assemble to form two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) macroscopic structures with unique properties?4–6 How do large macromolecular biological complexes form from the individual subunits7 and modify their structure to achieve specific functions?8 Liquid cell TEM is a powerful emergent platform to explore these and other physical, chemical, and biological processes in liquids through direct time-resolved nanoscale imaging.9,10
The quest for TEM imaging of materials in solution has a long history, with the first liquid cell reported in 1944.11 The early efforts were made in imaging colloids,12 protein crystals, and microorganisms.13–15 However, in these early studies, the spatial resolution of the images was limited, and it was a significant challenge to keep liquids within the liquid cell inside the high vacuum microscope, hence, the liquid cells were often filled with water vapor.16,17 Only recently, owing to advances in liquid cell fabrication, has it become possible to study a wide range of solution-based nanoscale processes that were previously out of reach, for instance, in situ imaging of electrodeposition in liquid electrolytes,18 colloidal nanoparticles growth,19 cellular structures of whole cells in water,20 water nanodroplets dynamics,21 self-assembly of nanoparticles,22,23 growth of metal–organic frameworks,24 and the assembly of macromolecules.25 Combining liquid phase TEM studies with the advanced electron microscopy techniques, such as atomic-resolution imaging with aberration-corrected TEM, fast electron detection and mapping of chemical and electronic properties with energy-dispersive x-ray analysis (EDX) and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) have led to many new breakthroughs. For example, these methods have
Utkur Mirsaidov, Department of Physics, National University of Singapore, Singapore; [email protected] Joseph P. Patterson, Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, USA; [email protected] Haimei Zheng, Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, USA; [email protected] doi:10.1557/mrs.2020.222
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• VOLUME 45 • SEPTEMBERUniversity 2020 • mrs.org/bulletin
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