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Nanoparticle shape and configuration analysis by transmission electron tomography
Author(s) -
AHRENKIEL S.P.,
YU P.R.,
MURPHY J.E.,
NEDELJKOVIĆ J.M.,
DONOHOE B.S.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of microscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.569
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2818
pISSN - 0022-2720
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2818.2008.01996.x
Subject(s) - electron tomography , materials science , nanorod , nanoparticle , tomography , transmission electron microscopy , tomographic reconstruction , stacking , tilt (camera) , optics , crystallography , scanning transmission electron microscopy , nanotechnology , geometry , nuclear magnetic resonance , physics , chemistry , mathematics
Summary Tomographic reconstruction by transmission electron microscopy is used to reveal three‐dimensional nanoparticle shapes and the stacking configurations of nanoparticle ensembles. Reconstructions are generated from bright‐field image tilt series, with a sample tilt range up to ± 70°, using single or dual tilt axes. We demonstrate the feasibility of this technique for the analysis of nanomaterials, using appropriate acquisition conditions. Tomography reveals both cubic and hexagonal close‐packing configurations in multi‐layered arrays of size‐selected In nanospheres. By tomography and phase‐contrast lattice imaging, we relate the three‐dimensional shape of PbSe octahedral nanoparticles to the underlying crystal structure. We also confirm simple‐cubic packing in multi‐layers of PbSe nanocubes and see evidence that the particle shapes have cubic symmetry. The shapes of TiO 2 nanorod bundles are shown by tomographic reconstruction to resemble flattened ellipsoids.