{"id":920,"date":"2018-01-11T09:16:12","date_gmt":"2018-01-11T09:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/in-abstract\/?p=920"},"modified":"2018-04-17T15:34:49","modified_gmt":"2018-04-17T14:34:49","slug":"nanometer-resolution-elemental-mapping-in-graphene-based-tem-liquid-cells","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/in-abstract\/nanometer-resolution-elemental-mapping-in-graphene-based-tem-liquid-cells\/","title":{"rendered":"Nanometer Resolution Elemental Mapping in Graphene-Based TEM Liquid Cells"},"content":{"rendered":"

Researchers use a graphene ‘petri-dish’ to observe the movements of individual metal atoms in liquids<\/strong><\/p>\n

Studying dynamic processes in liquid environments with electron microscopy has been made possible with a graphene-based \u2018nano-petri dish\u2019. Transmission electron microscopes (TEMs) use a beam of finely focused electrons to image the structure of materials and analyse their elemental composition on the atomic scale. Usually any potential specimens must be dry, as the high vacuum inside the microscope would evaporate any fluid. This can be a major problem as the vacuum environment can change the structure of the material compared to the native state.<\/p>\n

To overcome this, researchers at The University of Manchester have developed a method of imaging nanoparticles in water using 2D material components. This method involves adding the liquid-phase particles into wells drilled in a thin boron nitride block and then sealing it on the top and bottom with graphene. The resulting liquid-cell is similar to a standard petri-dish, though about one million times smaller, and can be used to observe specimens in liquids with single atom sensitivity and accurately map their elemental composition with nanometre-level precision. It is anticipated that this new platform will offer new perspectives into the study of nanomaterials for catalysis, optoelectronics, and bioanalysis.<\/p>\n

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