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Tackling the Challenges of Dynamic Experiments Using Liquid-Cell Transmission Electron Microscopy
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posted on 2017-12-11, 18:10 authored by Lucas
R. Parent, Evangelos Bakalis, Maria Proetto, Yiwen Li, Chiwoo Park, Francesco Zerbetto, Nathan C. GianneschiConspectusRevolutions in science and engineering frequently result from the
development, and wide adoption, of a new, powerful characterization
or imaging technique. Beginning with the first glass lenses and telescopes
in astronomy, to the development of visual-light microscopy, staining
techniques, confocal microscopy, and fluorescence super-resolution
microscopy in biology, and most recently aberration-corrected, cryogenic,
and ultrafast (4D) electron microscopy, X-ray microscopy, and scanning
probe microscopy in nanoscience. Through these developments, our perception
and understanding of the physical nature of matter at length-scales
beyond ordinary perception have been fundamentally transformed. Despite
this progression in microscopy, techniques for observing nanoscale
chemical processes and solvated/hydrated systems are limited, as the
necessary spatial and temporal resolution presents significant technical
challenges. However, the standard reliance on indirect or bulk phase
characterization of nanoscale samples in liquids is undergoing a shift
in recent times with the realization (Williamson et al. Nat. Mater. 2003, 2, 532−536) of liquid-cell (scanning) transmission electron microscopy, LC(S)TEM,
where picoliters of solution are hermetically sealed between electron-transparent
“windows,” which can be directly imaged or videoed at
the nanoscale using conventional transmission electron microscopes.
This Account seeks to open a discussion on the topic of standardizing
strategies for conducting imaging experiments with a view to characterizing
dynamics and motion of nanoscale materials. This is a challenge that
could be described by critics and proponents alike, as analogous to
doing chemistry in a lightning storm; where the nature of the solution,
the nanomaterial, and the dynamic behaviors are all potentially subject
to artifactual influence by the very act of our observation.
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Keywords
nanoscale samplesnanoscale materialselectron microscopyartifactual influenceglass lensesvisual-light microscopynanoscale chemical processesbulk phase characterizationX-ray microscopylightning stormscanning probe microscopyfluorescence super-resolution microscopytransmission electron microscopesimaging experimentsDynamic Experimentstransmission electron microscopyLiquid-Cell Transmission Electron Microscopy ConspectusRevolutionsconfocal microscopyLCimaging techniquestaining techniques
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