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Cryo-TEM Observation of 3-D Ordered Aggregates of 5-nm Gold Clusters in Solutions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2020

O. Balmes  and
J. - O. Bovin
O. Balmes
Affiliation:
National Center for HREM, Inorganic Chemistry 2, Center for Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lund University, P.O. Box 124, S-221 00 Lund, Sweden
J. - O. Bovin
Affiliation:
National Center for HREM, Inorganic Chemistry 2, Center for Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lund University, P.O. Box 124, S-221 00 Lund, Sweden
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Abstract

The preparation of frozen amorphous nano-meter thin films of solutions containing particles, and imaging with cryo- TEM, opens for the first time the possibility to study cluster assembles interacting with liquids. The method is here used to show evidence for assembly of ordered 3-dimensional aggregates of ligand stabilized 5-nm gold clusters in a long chain alcohol solution. The use of the plunge-freezing method allows freezing of solutions at a cooling rate that does not allow re-organization of the clusters. The stability of the amorphous solid solutions under the electron beam make it possible to record several pictures of the same aggregate at different angles and clearly identify the super-structure.

The sample preparation uses a modified controlled-environment vitrification system built in glass. Solidification of the liquid phase was achieved by plunging the solution, suspended in the holes of a lacy carbon on a copper grid, into liquid ethane (-174 °C) or in some cases liquid nitrogen.

Type
Novel Microscopy Assisted Ceramic Developments in Materials Scienceand Nanotechnology (Organized by P. Gai and J. Lee)
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 7 , Issue S2: Proceedings: Microscopy & Microanalysis 2001, Microscopy Society of America 59th Annual Meeting, Microbeam Analysis Society 35th Annual Meeting, Long Beach, California August 5-9, 2001 , August 2001 , pp. 396 - 397
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 2001

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References

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4. The project was supported by the Swedish Research Council and the EU contract ERBFMRXCT980177. Mrs G. Karlsson is acknowledged for the EFTEM work and discussions.Google Scholar