Ma Mengmeng, Yu Qinnan, Zhang Jiayi, Chen Xiao, Li Wenbo, Qu Xianlin, Zhang Xuliang, Feng Jiale, Wei Fei, Yuan Jianyu, Cheng Tao, Dai Sheng, Wang Yi, Song Bin, Shen Boyuan
Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials & Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, Jiangsu, China.
Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Negative Carbon Technologies, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, China.
Nat Commun. 2025 Mar 12;16(1):2447. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-57816-4.
Atomic imaging of molecules and intermolecular interactions are of great significance for a deeper understanding of the basic physics and chemistry in various applications, but it is still challenging in electron microscopy due to their thermal mobility and beam sensitivity. Confinement effect and low-dose imaging method may efficiently help us achieve stable high-resolution resolving of molecules and their interactions. Here, we propose a general strategy to image the confined molecules and evaluate the strengths of host-guest interactions in three material systems by low-dose electron microscopy. Then, we change the guest molecules to analyze how each kind of interaction strength influences the imaging quality of these molecules by using a same parameter, the aspect ratios of imaged molecular projections. In the material systems of perovskites (ionic) and zeolites with adsorbed molecules (van der Waals), we can obtain a clear image of molecular configurations by enhancing host-guest interactions. Even in metal organic framework (coordination) system, the atomic structures and bonds of aromatics can be achieved. These results provide a general description on the relation between molecular images and interactions, making it possible to study more molecular behaviors in wide applications by real-space imaging.
分子及分子间相互作用的原子成像对于更深入理解各种应用中的基础物理和化学具有重要意义，但由于分子的热迁移率和束敏感性，在电子显微镜下实现仍具有挑战性。限域效应和低剂量成像方法可能有效地帮助我们实现分子及其相互作用的稳定高分辨率解析。在此，我们提出一种通用策略，通过低剂量电子显微镜对受限分子成像，并评估三种材料体系中主客体相互作用的强度。然后，我们通过改变客体分子，利用成像分子投影的纵横比这一相同参数来分析每种相互作用强度如何影响这些分子的成像质量。在钙钛矿（离子型）和吸附分子的沸石（范德华力）材料体系中，我们可以通过增强主客体相互作用获得分子构型的清晰图像。即使在金属有机框架（配位）体系中，也能够实现芳烃的原子结构和键的成像。这些结果提供了关于分子图像与相互作用之间关系的一般性描述，使得通过实空间成像在广泛应用中研究更多分子行为成为可能。
