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Picoliter Drop-On-Demand Dispensing for Multiplex Liquid Cell Transmission Electron Microscopy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 May 2016

Joseph P. Patterson ,
Lucas R. Parent ,
Joshua Cantlon ,
Holger Eickhoff ,
Guido Bared ,
James E. Evans  and
Nathan C. Gianneschi
Joseph P. Patterson
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
Lucas R. Parent
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
Joshua Cantlon
Affiliation:
SCIENION AG, Volmerstr. 7a, 12489 Berlin, Germany
Holger Eickhoff
Affiliation:
SCIENION AG, Volmerstr. 7a, 12489 Berlin, Germany
Guido Bared
Affiliation:
SCIENION AG, Volmerstr. 7a, 12489 Berlin, Germany
James E. Evans
Affiliation:
Environmental Molecular Science Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 3335 Innovation Blvd., Richland, WA 99354, USA
Nathan C. Gianneschi*
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
*
*Corresponding author. [email protected]
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Abstract

Liquid cell transmission electron microscopy (LCTEM) provides a unique insight into the dynamics of nanomaterials in solution. Controlling the addition of multiple solutions to the liquid cell remains a key hurdle in our ability to increase throughput and to study processes dependent on solution mixing including chemical reactions. Here, we report that a piezo dispensing technique allows for mixing of multiple solutions directly within the viewing area. This technique permits deposition of 50 pL droplets of various aqueous solutions onto the liquid cell window, before assembly of the cell in a fully controlled manner. This proof-of-concept study highlights the great potential of picoliter dispensing in combination with LCTEM for observing nanoparticle mixing in the solution phase and the creation of chemical gradients.

Keywords

liquid cell transmission electron microscopyTEM sample preparationdispensing organic non-organic solutionsgrid loading
Type
Technique and Instrumentation Development
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , June 2016 , pp. 507 - 514
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 2016

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Footnotes

a

Contributed equally to this paper.

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