Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T16:27:48.929Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Nanofluidic Cells with Controlled Path Length and Liquid Flow for Rapid, High-Resolution In Situ Electron Microscopy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2013

C. Mueller ,
M. Harb ,
J.R. Dwyer  and
R.J.D. Miller
C. Mueller
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry and Physics, University of Toronto, 80 St George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3H6, Canada.
M. Harb
Affiliation:
Insight Nanofluidics Inc, 60 St George StreetSuite 331, Toronto, ON M5S 1A7, Canada.
J.R. Dwyer
Affiliation:
Insight Nanofluidics Inc, 60 St George StreetSuite 331, Toronto, ON M5S 1A7, Canada. Department of Chemistry, University of Rhode Island, 51 Lower College Road, Kingston, RI 02881, USA.
R.J.D. Miller*
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry and Physics, University of Toronto, 80 St George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3H6, Canada. Max Planck Research Group for Structural Dynamics, Department of Physics, University of Hamburg, c/o DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany.
*
*Corresponding Author: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

In situ imaging using (scanning) transmission electron microscopy has proven to be an extremely important and powerful cross-disciplinary scientific technique. In particular nanotechnology and materials sciences have special interest in assembly and disintegration processes, in growth and shape-tuning of (nano)-particles, and, furthermore in mechanistic studies of chemical reactions underlying these processes. However, limitations for in liquid and in situ imaging using electron microscopy arise from the stringent experimental conditions required with respect to electron scattering.

Here, we present a nanofluidic sample cell allowing for controlled fluidic conditions which preserve the highest possible spatial resolution for in-liquid electron microscopy. The nanocell allows for liquid flow with a flow control mechanism operated external to the microscope column enabling on-the-fly sample exchange within the imaging area. A well-defined flow path allows us to direct the motion of gold nanorods through fluid flow. Further a particle’s Brownian motion becomes evident once the external flow is terminated. In addition to quantitatively showing the resolution capabilities of our nanofluidic design, we show preliminary results of in situ imaging of gold nanorods and unstained amyloid fibrils to emphasize the significance of this imaging modality for both material sciences and biology.

Keywords

fluidicsnanoscaletransmission electron microscopy (TEM)
Type
Articles
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1544: Symposium J – In-Situ Characterization Methods in Energy Materials Research , 2013 , mrss13-1544-j01-03
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Howe, J. M., Mori, H. & Wang, Z. L. In Situ High- Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy in the Study of Nanomaterials and Properties. MRS Bullertin 33, 115–121 (2008).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shechtman, D. & Blech, I. Metallic Phase with Long-Range Orientational Translational Symmetry. Physical Review Letters 53, 1951–1954 (1984).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roingeard, P. Viral Detection by Electron Microscopy: Past, Present and Future. Biology of the Cell 100, 491–501 (2008).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
LaGrange, T. et al. . Nanosecond time-resolved investigations using the in situ of dynamic transmission electron microscope (DTEM). Ultramicroscopy 108, 1441–9 (2008).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nikolova, L. et al. . Nanocrystallization of amorphous germanium films observed with nanosecond temporal resolution. Applied Physics Letters 97, 203102 (2010).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yuk, J. M. et al. . High-Resolution EM of Colloidal Nanocrystal Growth Using Graphene Liquid Cells. Science 336, 61–64 (2012).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grogan, J., Rotkina, L. & Bau, H. In situ liquid-cell electron microscopy of colloid aggregation and growth dynamics. Physical Review E 83, 061405 (2011).Google Scholar
Fullam, E. F. A Closed Wet Cell for the Electron Microscope. Review of Scientific Instruments 43, 245–247 (1972).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heide, H. G. Electron Microscopic Observation of Specimens Under Controlled Gas Pressure. J. Cell Biology 13, 147–152 (1962).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Basu, S. & Parsons, D. F. New wet-replication technique. I. Replication of water droplets. Journal of Applied Physics 47, 741–751 (1976).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klein, K. L., Anderson, I. M. & deJonge, N. Transmission electron microscopy with a liquid flow cell. Journal of Microscopy 242, 117–23 (2011).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
deJonge, N. & Ross, F. M. Electron microscopy of specimens in liquid. Nature Nanotechnolgy 6, 695–704 (2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grogan, J. M. & Bau, H. H. The Nanoaquarium: A Platform for In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy in Liquid Media. Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems 19, 885–894 (2010).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peckys, D. B., Veith, G. M., Joy, D. C. & De Jonge, N. Nanoscale Imaging of Whole Cells Using a Liquid Enclosure and a Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope. PloS One 4, e8214 (2009).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ring, E. A. & deJonge, N. Microfluidic system for transmission electron microscopy. Microscopy and Microanalysis 16, 622–9 (2010).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
LaGrange, T. et al. . Single-shot dynamic transmission electron microscopy. Applied Physics Letters 89, 044105 (2006).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Browning, N. D. et al. . Recent developments in dynamic transmission electron microscopy. Current Opinion in Solid State and Materials Science 16, 23–30 (2012).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harb, Maher, Dwyer, Jason R., Dwayne Miller, R.J., A. P. WO2011009209A1.pdf. (2011).Google Scholar
Cowan, M. L. et al. . Ultrafast Memory Loss and Energy Redistribution in the Hydrogen Bond Network of Liquid H2O. Nature 434, 199–202 (2005).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ciarlo, D. R. Silicon Nitride Thin Windows for Biomedical Microdevices. Biomedical Microdevices 4, 63–68 (2002).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kraemer, D. et al. . Temperature dependence of the two-dimensional infrared spectrum of liquid H2O. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 105, 437–42 (2008).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
deJonge, N., Poirier-Demers, N., Demers, H., Peckys, D. B. & Drouin, D. Nanometer-Resolution Electron Micrsocopy Through Micrometers-Thick Water Layers. Ultramicroscopy 110, 1114 (2010).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huang, X., El-Sayed, I. H., Qian, W. & El-Sayed, M. a Cancer cell imaging and photothermal therapy in the near-infrared region by using gold nanorods. Journal of the American Chemical Society 128, 2115–20 (2006).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lee, K.-S. & El-Sayed, M. a Gold and Silver Nanoparticles in Sensing and Imaging: Sensitivity of Plasmon Response to Size, Shape, and Metal Composition. The Journal of Physical Chemistry B 110, 19220–5 (2006).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, A. et al. . Probing dynamic generation of hot-spots in self-assembled chains of gold nanorods by surface-enhanced Raman scattering. Journal of the American Chemical Society 133, 7563–70 (2011).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lukach, A., Liu, K., Thérien-Aubin, H. & Kumacheva, E. Controlling the degree of polymerization, bond lengths and bond angles of plasmonic polymers. Journal of the American Chemical Society tbd, tbd (2012).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fodero-Tavoletti, M. T. et al. . Amyloid-β: The Seeds of Darkness. The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology 43, 1247–51 (2011).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sipe, J. D. & Cohen, a S. Review: History of the Amyloid Fibril. J. of Structural Biology 130, 88–98 (2000).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roberson, E. D. & Mucke, L. 100 Years and Counting: Prospects for Defeating Alzheimer’s Disease. Science 314, 781–4 (2006).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Serpell, L. C., Blake, C. C. F. & Fraser, P. E. Molecular Structure of a Fibrillar Alzheimer ’ s A Fragment †. Biochemistry 39, 13269–13275 (2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhou, Y. et al. . Recyclable Organic Solar Cells on Cellulose Nanocrystal Substrates. Scientific Reports 3, 01536 (2013).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zhu, Y. et al. . A Seamless Three-Dimensional Carbon Nanotube Graphene Hybrid Material. Nature Communications 3, 2234 (2012).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Keist, J. et al. . Real-Time Dynamics During Recharging Cycles. ECS Transactions 50, 13–17 (2013).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ge, M., Rong, J., Fang, X. & Zhou, C. Porous Doped Silicon Nanowires for Lithium Ion Battery Anode with Long Cycle Life. Nano Letters 12, 2318–2323 (2012).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed