Materials Chemistry Commons^™

Uncovering Structure-Property Relationships Of Inorganic Nanomaterials Via Transmission Electron Microscopy, Melonie Thomas

Theses and Dissertations--Chemistry

The rapid increase of research in nanoscale devices and nanotechnology in the past few decades has revealed that nanomaterials may possess exceptional properties that are significantly different from the bulk counterpart, due to local rearrangements of the atoms at surfaces and defects. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is an indispensable tool when it comes to the characterization of nanomaterials, primarily due to its ability to resolve the local-structure of materials at the atomic-scale. To study dynamic processes, however, regular TEM experiments are inadequate, as they provide only before and after information rather than the real-time data essential to understanding a reaction …

Exploring The Structure And Properties Of Nanomaterials Using Advanced Electron Microscopy Techniques, Yao-Jen Chang

Theses and Dissertations--Chemistry

Nowadays people are relying on all kinds of electronic devices in their daily life. All these devices are getting smaller and lighter with longer battery life due to the improvement of nanotechnology and materials sciences. Electron microscopy (EM) plays a vital role in the evolution of materials characterization which shapes the technology in today’s life. In electron microscopy, electron beam is used as the illumination source instead of visible light used in traditional optical microscopy, the wavelength of an electron is about 10⁵ times shorter than visible light. By taking this advantage, the resolving power and magnification are greatly …

Using Conventional And In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy Techniques To Understand Nanoscale Crystallography, Bethany M. Hudak

Theses and Dissertations--Chemistry

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is a powerful tool for studying solidstate crystalline systems. With the advances in aberration correction, monochromation, and in situ capabilities, these microscopes are now more useful for addressing fundamental materials chemistry problems than ever before. This dissertation will illustrate the ways in which I have been using high-resolution imaging and in situ heating in the TEM during my Ph.D. research to investigate unique solid state chemistry questions.

This dissertation will focus on four unique crystal systems: thermoelectric skutterudite crystals, vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) grown nanowires, and hafnium dioxide nanorods. Although these systems are very different from one another, …