Abstract
Liquid cell transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has become an essential tool for studying the structure and properties of both hard and soft condensed-matter samples, as well as liquids themselves. Liquid cell sample holders, often consisting of two thin window layers separating the liquid sample from the high vacuum of the microscope column, have been designed to control in situ conditions, including temperature, voltage/current, or flow through the window region. While high-resolution and time-resolved TEM imaging probes the structure, shape, and dynamics of liquid cell samples, information about the chemical composition and spatially resolved bonding is often difficult to obtain due to the liquid thickness, the window layers, the holder configuration, or beam-induced radiolysis. In this article, we review different approaches to quantitative liquid cell electron microscopy, including recent developments to perform energy-dispersive x-ray and electron energy-loss spectroscopy experiments on samples in a liquid environment or the liquid itself. We also cover graphene liquid cells and other ultrathin window layer holders.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 761-768 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | MRS Bulletin |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 1 2020 |
Funding
The authors would like to thank J.R. Jokisaari for his help with Figure 2 . P.E. is supported by the Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which is supported by the US Department of Energy (DOE) under Contract No. DE-AC02–05CH11231. P.E. thanks support from the DOE Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division under Contract No. DE-AC02–05-CH11231 within the KC22ZH program. R.F.K. is supported in part by the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR), an energy innovation hub funded by the US DOE, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences. J.A.H.'s portion of this work was supported by the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences | |
| DOE Office of Science | |
| JCESR | |
| Joint Center for Energy Storage Research | |
| Office of Basic Energy Sciences | |
| US Department of Energy | |
| U.S. Department of Energy | |
| Office of Science | |
| Basic Energy Sciences | |
| Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering |