Nanofluidic imaging kit for liquid-phase electron microscopy studies of drop-casted samples

这项建议的重点是发展必要的组件，以研究液滴浇注在液体中的样品，以亚纳米级的分辨率(LP-TEM)。LP-TEM是一种新型的电子显微镜方法，用于表征悬浮在载体液体中的各种硬或软纳米材料和生物标本。它依赖于纳米流体电池(NFC)的实施，这是一种能够以精确和安全的方式在两个电子透明的超薄窗口之间封装流体的灵敏设备。这个NSERC-I2I阶段开发项目建立在滑铁卢大学通过其商业化办公室获得的知识产权基础上，该办公室提交了一项名为“纳米流体电池和加载平台”的专利申请。此外，研究人员最近还申请了一项临时专利，名为“纳米流体载体”，对NFC形状设计进行了关键改进。这项提议的提出是为了支持第三项技术创新，该创新将完成安大略省滑铁卢一家初创公司的初始产品组合，该产品将于2021年秋季纳入。此外，滑铁卢大学代表首席研究员和加拿大电子显微镜中心(CCEM)最近正式签署了一份谅解备忘录，将使这种LP-TEM技术广泛应用于加拿大的瞬变电磁学社区。该团队还与研究系统和ThermoFisher Science(FEI)签署了保密协议，后者表示有兴趣成为滑铁卢技术的测试者。

This proposal focuses on the development of the components necessary for the study of drop-casted in-liquid specimens with sub-nanometre resolution by Liquid-Phase Transmission Electron Microscopy (LP-TEM). LP-TEM is a novel electron microscopy method that is used to characterize a variety of hard or soft nanomaterials and biological specimens that are suspended in a carrier liquid. It relies on the implementation of a nanofluidic cell (NFC), a sensitive device that is capable of encapsulating fluid in a precise and safe manner between two electron-transparent ultrathin windows.This NSERC-I2I Phase I developmental project builds on intellectual property that has been assigned to the University of Waterloo through its Commercialization Office, which filed a patent application titled: "Nanofluidic Cell and Loading Platform". In addition, researchers have very recently filed a provisional patent titled: "Nanofluidic carrier" with key improvements in the NFC shape design.This proposal is put forward to support the third technological innovation that will complete the initial portfolio of product offerings of a Startup in Waterloo, Ontario, that will be incorporated this coming fall 2021.Moreover, the University of Waterloo, on behalf of the principal investigator, and the Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy (CCEM) have recently formalized a memorandum of understanding that will make this LP-TEM technology broadly available to the Canadian TEM community. The team has also signed non-disclosure agreements with Systems for Research and ThermoFisher Scientific (FEI), who expressed interest in becoming beta testers of Waterloo's technologies.