Recent developments of the in situ wet cell technology for transmission electron microscopies

Abstract

In situ wet cells for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) allow studying structures and processes in a liquid environment with high temporal and spatial resolutions, and have been attracting increasing research interests in many fields. In this review, we highlight the structural and functional developments of the wet cells for TEM and STEM. One of the key features of the wet cells is the sealing technique used to isolate the liquid sample from the TEM/STEM vacuum environments, thus the existing in situ wet cells are grouped by different sealing methods. In this study, the advantages and shortcomings of each type of in situ wet cells are discussed, the functional developments of different wet cells are presented, and the future trends of the wet cell technology are addressed. It is suggested that in the future the in situ wet cell TEM/STEM technology will have an increasing impact on frontier nanoscale research.

Mechanistic Aspects in the Formation, Growth and Surface Functionalization of Metal Oxide Nanoparticles in Organic Solvents

“…[115] Clearly,t he fascination of TEM is not only rooted in its scientificm erit, but also in the fact that it is always nice to "see" things happening with our eyes. More detailso nr ecent advances in in situ TEM and ah istorical outline can be found in the review of Chen et al [116] At this point we finish our summary on in situ methods. A last reference is made to the review article of Pienacka nd Bensch,w ho comprehensively summarizedt he different in situ methods available for the study of the early stages of crystallization of solids.…”

“…Clearly, the fascination of TEM is not only rooted in its scientific merit, but also in the fact that it is always nice to “see” things happening with our eyes. More details on recent advances in in situ TEM and a historical outline can be found in the review of Chen et al …”

Picoliter Drop-On-Demand Dispensing for Multiplex Liquid Cell Transmission Electron Microscopy

“…These spacer-chips allow for the cells to be assembled “in air” (no liquid initially between the chips), and to then flow external liquid into the window region of the cell after insertion in the microscope. Although many reports discuss the great potential of LCTEM for the study of nanoparticle systems formed through the mixing of solutions containing various required components or conditions (De & Ross, 2011; Chen et al, 2015 b ), there has been no demonstration whereby two solutions have been mixed within the viewing windows of the liquid cell, largely due to technical limitations in dispensing and circulating separate liquids within the confined nanoliter volumes typical of the cells. Furthermore, although several holder designs allow the flow of multiple liquids into the tip region of the LCTEM holder using inlet/outlet lines, mixing of the liquids by this method occurs in the collection wells before the mixture reaching the window region of the cell (Nielsen et al, 2014).…”

In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy Characterization and Manipulation of Two‐Dimensional Layered Materials beyond Graphene

“…Environmental TEM provides a unique opportunity for monitoring gas and liquid phase reactions with ultra‐high spatial resolution, which is not achievable through other techniques . There are two viable approaches: the differentially pumped system in the objective lens area and the windowed cell approach (liquid cell).…”