100th Anniversary of Macromolecular Science Viewpoint: Polymeric Materials by In Situ Liquid-Phase Transmission Electron Microscopy
100th Anniversary of Macromolecular Science Viewpoint: Polymeric Materials by In Situ Liquid-Phase Transmission Electron Microscopy
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DOI：
10.1021/acsmacrolett.0c00595
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发表时间：
2021-01-19
影响因子：
7.015
通讯作者：
Gianneschi, Nathan C.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Parent, Lucas R.;Gnanasekaran, Karthikeyan;Gianneschi, Nathan C.
一个世纪前，Hermann Staudinger提出了聚合物的大分子理论，现在，当我们进入聚合物科学的第二个世纪时，我们面临着功能性软物质发展的一系列不同的机遇和挑战。事实上，在分子和纳米尺度上，许多与物理结构和相变机制有关的基本问题仍未解决。在本观点中，我们描述了开发一种动态的原位显微镜工具的努力，该工具适用于纳米级聚合物材料的研究，可以直接观察溶液中的离散结构和过程，作为光、中子和x射线散射方法的补充。液相透射电子显微镜（ltem）是一种新兴的原位成像技术，用于实时表征和检测溶剂化纳米材料。虽然仍处于开发阶段，但LPTEM已被证明具有多种成像模式：(1)类似于冷冻透射电镜的静态溶剂化材料成像，(2)运动中的纳米材料录像，(3)观察溶液或纳米材料发生物理和化学转变，包括合成、组装和相变，以及(4)观察电子束诱导的化学材料过程。在此，我们描述了LPTEM在聚合物科学中的机遇和局限性。我们回顾了LPTEM的基本实验平台，并描述了与成像过程密切相关的电子束效应的起源。这些电子束效应会对样品和溶剂造成扰动和破坏，从而在图像和视频中表现为伪影。我们描述了样品特定的实验指南和概述方法来减轻，表征和量化光束破坏效应。总之，我们试图在这一新兴领域的背景下提供一个概述，以促进聚合物科学的进步。
A century ago, Hermann Staudinger proposed the macromolecular theory of polymers, and now, as we enter the second century of polymer science, we face a different set of opportunities and challenges for the development of functional soft matter. Indeed, many fundamental questions remain open, relating to physical structures and mechanisms of phase transformations at the molecular and nanoscale. In this Viewpoint, we describe efforts to develop a dynamic, in situ microscopy tool suited to the study of polymeric materials at the nanoscale that allows for direct observation of discrete structures and processes in solution, as a complement to light, neutron, and X-ray scattering methods. Liquid-phase transmission electron microscopy (LPTEM) is a nascent in situ imaging technique for characterizing and examining solvated nanomaterials in real time. Though still under development, LPTEM has been shown to be capable of several modes of imaging: (1) imaging static solvated materials analogous to cryo-TEM, (2) videography of nanomaterials in motion, (3) observing solutions or nanomaterials undergoing physical and chemical transformations, including synthesis, assembly, and phase transitions, and (4) observing electron beam-induced chemical-materials processes. Herein, we describe opportunities and limitations of LPTEM for polymer science. We review the basic experimental platform of LPTEM and describe the origin of electron beam effects that go hand in hand with the imaging process. These electron beam effects cause perturbation and damage to the sample and solvent that can manifest as artefacts in images and videos. We describe sample-specific experimental guidelines and outline approaches to mitigate, characterize, and quantify beam damaging effects. Altogether, we seek to provide an overview of this nascent field in the context of its potential to contribute to the advancement of polymer science.