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Environmental Liquid Cell Technique for Improved Electron Microscopic Imaging of Soft Matter in Solution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2020

Sana Azim ,
Lindsey A. Bultema Open the ORCID record for Lindsey A. Bultema [Opens in a new window] ,
Michiel B. de Kock ,
Ernesto Rafael Osorio-Blanco Open the ORCID record for Ernesto Rafael Osorio-Blanco [Opens in a new window] ,
Marcelo Calderón Open the ORCID record for Marcelo Calderón [Opens in a new window] ,
Josef Gonschior ,
Jan-Philipp Leimkohl ,
Friedjof Tellkamp ,
Robert Bücker Open the ORCID record for Robert Bücker [Opens in a new window]  and
Eike C. Schulz
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Sana Azim*
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, Geb. 99 (CFEL), 22761Hamburg, Germany
Lindsey A. Bultema*
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, Geb. 99 (CFEL), 22761Hamburg, Germany
Michiel B. de Kock
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, Geb. 99 (CFEL), 22761Hamburg, Germany Centre for Structural Systems Biology, Department of Chemistry, University of Hamburg, Notkestraße 85, 22607Hamburg, Germany
Ernesto Rafael Osorio-Blanco
Affiliation:
Freie Universität Berlin, Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Takustr. 3, 14195Berlin, Germany
Marcelo Calderón
Affiliation:
POLYMAT & Applied Chemistry Department, Faculty of Chemistry, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, Paseo Manuel de Lardizabal 3, 20018Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, 48013Bilbao, Spain
Josef Gonschior
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, Geb. 99 (CFEL), 22761Hamburg, Germany
Jan-Philipp Leimkohl
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, Geb. 99 (CFEL), 22761Hamburg, Germany
Friedjof Tellkamp
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, Geb. 99 (CFEL), 22761Hamburg, Germany
Robert Bücker
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, Geb. 99 (CFEL), 22761Hamburg, Germany
Eike C. Schulz
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, Geb. 99 (CFEL), 22761Hamburg, Germany
Sercan Keskin
Affiliation:
INM – Leibniz Institute for New Materials, Campus D2 2, 66123Saarbrücken, Germany
Niels de Jonge
Affiliation:
INM – Leibniz Institute for New Materials, Campus D2 2, 66123Saarbrücken, Germany Department of Physics, Saarland University, Campus D2 2, 66123Saarbrücken, Germany
Günther H. Kassier
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, Geb. 99 (CFEL), 22761Hamburg, Germany
R.J. Dwayne Miller
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Luruper Chaussee 149, Geb. 99 (CFEL), 22761Hamburg, Germany Departments of Chemistry and Physics, University of Toronto, 80 St. Georg Street, Toronto, ONM5S 3H6, Canada
*
*Author for correspondence: R.J. Dwayne Miller, E-mail: dmiller@lphys2.chem.utoronto.ca
*Author for correspondence: R.J. Dwayne Miller, E-mail: dmiller@lphys2.chem.utoronto.ca
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Abstract

Liquid-phase transmission electron microscopy is a technique for simultaneous imaging of the structure and dynamics of specimens in a liquid environment. The conventional sample geometry consists of a liquid layer tightly sandwiched between two Si3N4 windows with a nominal spacing on the order of 0.5 μm. We describe a variation of the conventional approach, wherein the Si3N4 windows are separated by a 10-μm-thick spacer, thus providing room for gas flow inside the liquid specimen enclosure. Adjusting the pressure and flow speed of humid air inside this environmental liquid cell (ELC) creates a stable liquid layer of controllable thickness on the bottom window, thus facilitating high-resolution observations of low mass-thickness contrast objects at low electron doses. We demonstrate controllable liquid thicknesses in the range 160 ± 34 to 340 ± 71 nm resulting in corresponding edge resolutions of 0.8 ± 0.06 to 1.7 ± 0.8 nm as measured for immersed gold nanoparticles. Liquid layer thickness 40 ± 8 nm allowed imaging of low-contrast polystyrene particles. Hydration effects in the ELC have been studied using poly-N-isopropylacrylamide nanogels with a silica core. Therefore, ELC can be a suitable tool for in situ investigations of liquid specimens.

Keywords

controlled nm liquid layer thicknesselectron microscopyenvironmental liquid cellin-liquid imagingstructural dynamics
Type
Software and Instrumentation
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 27 , Issue 1 , February 2021 , pp. 44 - 53
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

†

Sana Azim and Lindsey A. Bultema are the co-first authors and equally contributed to this work.

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