1. High-Throughput 3D Ensemble Characterization of Individual Core-Shell Nanoparticles with X-ray Free Electron Laser Single-Particle Imaging
- Author
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Heemin Lee, Kyung Sook Kim, Changyong Song, Daewoong Nam, Yungok Ihm, Zhou Shen, Junha Hwang, Dae Han Wi, Sang Woo Han, Sangsoo Kim, Sang-Youn Park, Do Hyung Cho, Chulho Jung, Daeho Sung, Do Young Noh, Sung Yun Lee, Jae-Yong Shin, N. Duane Loh, and Su Yong Lee
- Subjects
Free electron model ,Materials science ,General Engineering ,Elastic energy ,Free-electron laser ,General Physics and Astronomy ,Nanotechnology ,02 engineering and technology ,010402 general chemistry ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,Laser ,01 natural sciences ,Atomic units ,0104 chemical sciences ,Characterization (materials science) ,law.invention ,Molecular dynamics ,law ,General Materials Science ,0210 nano-technology ,Nanoscopic scale - Abstract
The structures as building blocks for designing functional nanomaterials have fueled the development of versatile nanoprobes to understand local structures of noncrystalline specimens. Progress in analyzing structures of individual specimens with atomic scale accuracy has been notable recently. In most cases, however, only a limited number of specimens are inspected lacking statistics to represent the systems with structural inhomogeneity. Here, by employing single-particle imaging with X-ray free electron lasers and algorithms for multiple-model 3D imaging, we succeeded in investigating several thousand specimens in a couple of hours and identified intrinsic heterogeneities with 3D structures. Quantitative analysis has unveiled 3D morphology, facet indices, and elastic strain. The 3D elastic energy distribution is further corroborated by molecular dynamics simulations to gain mechanical insight at the atomic level. This work establishes a route to high-throughput characterization of individual specimens in large ensembles, hence overcoming statistical deficiency while providing quantitative information at the nanoscale.
- Published
- 2021