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- Title
Direct Imaging of Radiation-Sensitive Organic Polymer-Based Nanocrystals at Sub-Ångström Resolution.
- Authors
Carlino, Elvio; Taurino, Antonietta; Hasa, Dritan; Bučar, Dejan-Krešimir; Polentarutti, Maurizio; Chinchilla, Lidia E.; Calvino Gamez, Josè J.
- Abstract
Seeing the atomic configuration of single organic nanoparticles at a sub-Å spatial resolution by transmission electron microscopy has been so far prevented by the high sensitivity of soft matter to radiation damage. This difficulty is related to the need to irradiate the particle with a total dose of a few electrons/Å2, not compatible with the electron beam density necessary to search the low-contrast nanoparticle, to control its drift, finely adjust the electron-optical conditions and particle orientation, and finally acquire an effective atomic-resolution image. On the other hand, the capability to study individual pristine nanoparticles, such as proteins, active pharmaceutical ingredients, and polymers, with peculiar sensitivity to the variation in the local structure, defects, and strain, would provide advancements in many fields, including materials science, medicine, biology, and pharmacology. Here, we report the direct sub-ångström-resolution imaging at room temperature of pristine unstained crystalline polymer-based nanoparticles. This result is obtained by combining low-dose in-line electron holography and phase-contrast imaging on state-of-the-art equipment, providing an effective tool for the quantitative sub-ångström imaging of soft matter.
- Subjects
ELECTRON beams; NANOCRYSTALS; ELECTRON holography; MATERIALS science; SOFT X rays; RADIATION damage
- Publication
Nanomaterials (2079-4991), 2024, Vol 14, Issue 10, p872
- ISSN
2079-4991
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3390/nano14100872