Chen Xin, Tan Liyi, Cheng Siyu, Liu Yang, Zhu Mengqin
Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, and Shanghai Key Laboratory of Advanced Polymeric Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
R&D Department, Lisiyi Instrument & Equipment Co., Ltd., Shaoxing, People's Republic of China.
Microsc Res Tech. 2023 Aug;86(8):1057-1066. doi: 10.1002/jemt.24325. Epub 2023 Apr 20.
In situ liquid cell electron microscopy (LC-EM) is a powerful platform for real time nanoscale imaging of liquid systems. In situ liquid cell scanning electron microscopy (LC-SEM) as a relatively low cost and potentially more convenient characterization method, has not been as widely used as compared to in situ liquid cell transmission electron microscopy (LC-TEM). This paper reports a real time high resolution and comprehensive characterization of Au nanoparticles (NPs) and nanoparticle clusters (NPCs), which are surface-decorated with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), in an oleic acid (OA) emulsion system with LC-SEM. Single NP resolution images are routinely collected with both secondary electron (SE) and backscattered electron (BSE) imaging modes, with different SEM systems. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) mapping data clearly demonstrates the single particle level chemical element distributions, particle stacking structure, as well as the preferred distribution of OA molecules on the Au particle surfaces. Moreover, both liquid droplet growth and particle motions are observed with LC-SEM, among which, ways for faster tracking the single particle level dynamic motion behavior of Au NPs and NPCs are explored. We expect that our work will bring new insight of high resolution and fast analysis in a broad range of materials in liquid with LC-SEM.
原位液体池电子显微镜（LC-EM）是用于液体系统实时纳米级成像的强大平台。原位液体池扫描电子显微镜（LC-SEM）作为一种成本相对较低且可能更方便的表征方法，与原位液体池透射电子显微镜（LC-TEM）相比，尚未得到广泛应用。本文报道了利用LC-SEM对油酸（OA）乳液体系中表面用十六烷基三甲基溴化铵（CTAB）修饰的金纳米颗粒（NPs）和纳米颗粒团簇（NPCs）进行实时高分辨率和全面表征。使用不同的扫描电子显微镜系统，通过二次电子（SE）和背散射电子（BSE）成像模式常规收集单个NP的分辨率图像。能量色散光谱（EDS）映射数据清楚地展示了单颗粒水平的化学元素分布、颗粒堆积结构以及OA分子在金颗粒表面的优先分布。此外，利用LC-SEM观察到了液滴生长和颗粒运动，其中探索了更快跟踪金纳米颗粒和纳米颗粒团簇单颗粒水平动态运动行为的方法。我们期望我们的工作将为利用LC-SEM对广泛的液体材料进行高分辨率和快速分析带来新的见解。
