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Videos of Etching Gold Nanocubes and Nanorhombic Dodecahedra in Graphene Liquid Cell Transmission Electron Microscopy

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Aug 08, 2018 version files 9.88 GB

Abstract

Liquid cell Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) provides the opportunity to view nanocrystal dynamics in their native liquid environment with the necessary spatial resolution. In this dataset, gold nanocubes and nano-rhombic dodecahedra are etched inside graphene liquid cells while viewing using TEM. The initial gold nanocrystals are synthesized and then loaded in water pockets sandwiched between sheets of graphene. These graphene pockets protect the liquid from the vacuum of the TEM column while not preventing the electron beam from imaging the sample. The etching species in the reaction is a combination of FeCl3 preloaded in the liquid cell and oxidative radiolysis species generated by the electron beam. For this experiment, the initial concentration of FeCl3 was modulated to determine its effect on the etching process. A previously published paper using this dataset showed that the concentration of FeCl3 acts as the potential in the system and this controls the intermediate facets on the nanocrystal. By watching nanocrystals as they undergo dynamic processes, the pathways and mechanisms of nanoscale processes can be better understood.