PhD Mid-term Seminar Series: Modelling Radiolysis in Liquid Phase Electron Microscopy (LP-EM): from fundamentals to applicative simulations
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PhD Mid-term Seminar Series: Modelling Radiolysis in Liquid Phase Electron Microscopy (LP-EM): from fundamentals to applicative simulations
CIC nanoGUNE Seminars
- Speaker
-
Giuseppe De Salvo, Pre-doctoral Researcher, Electron Microscopy, CIC nanoGUNE
- When
-
2022/09/12
13:00
- Place
- nanoGUNE seminar room, Tolosa Hiribidea 76, Donostia - San Sebastian
- Add to calendar
-
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**Modelling Radiolysis in Liquid Phase Electron Microscopy (LP-EM): from
fundamentals to applicative simulations**
Giuseppe De Salvo
Pre-doctoral Researcher, Electron Microscopy, CIC nanoGUNE
** Key words: **Liquid Phase Electron Microscopy, chemical reactions network,
Finite Elements numerical method, electron-beam radiolytic damage in water
liquid phase.
Observing chemical reactions in their native liquid environment has always
been the desire of scientists in order to understand the nanoscale world. This
desire has led to the invention of **liquid-phase electron microscopy** **1**
**(LP-EM)** as a visualisation technique: an aqueous sample is enclosed in
liquid cells about few hundreds of nanometers thick and irradiated with a
high-energy electron beam, to obtain real-time videos of the evolution of the
chemical-physical processes. However, there are still many problems that limit
the capabilities of the technique; above all, the energy transferred from the
high-energy electrons of the beam to the aqueous medium, resulting from
inelastic scattering. A cascade of reactions is triggered, in which highly
reactive species are created (radiolytic) and diffuse in the liquid phase.
Such species are recognised to interfere with the reactions observed by LP-
TEM2. As there is a limited number of methods to monitor chemical environment
in sub-micrometer confined space of the cell, simulation methods play a key
role in predicting the chemistry inside the irradiated liquid cell. Herein, we
show an overview of models intended to qualitatively and quantitatively
describe the radiolysis in his fundamentals aspects and more applicative
scenarios. A model vastly used3 in literature is questioned in the
assumptions; and strategies for fighting or control the effects of radiolysis
inside the liquid cell are predicted and commented. This methodologies lead to
promising results for the optimisation of imaging conditions under the
microscope.
**References **
[1] De Jonge, Niels, and Frances M. Ross. "Electron microscopy of specimens in
liquid." Nature nanotechnology 6.11 (2011): 695-704.
[2] Woehl, Taylor J., et al. "Electron-beam-driven chemical processes during
liquid phase transmission electron microscopy." MRS Bulletin 45.9 (2020):
746-753.
[3] Schneider, Nicholas M., et al. "Electron–water interactions and
implications for liquid cell electron microscopy." The Journal of Physical
Chemistry C 118.38 (2014): 22373-22382.