Close Menu
  • News
  • Medical
  • Technology
  • Nanomaterials
  • Research
  • Blog
    • Nasiol.com
  • Contact
    • Tech7685@gmail.com
What's Hot

A new molecular model of bilayer graphene with higher semiconducting properties

May 31, 2025

5 Nanomaterial Innovations That Didn’t Deliver (Yet)

May 30, 2025

Scientists identify new 2D copper boride material with unique atomic structure

May 30, 2025
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Nanotech – Nanomaterials | Medical | Research | News Stories Updated Daily Nanotech – Nanomaterials | Medical | Research | News Stories Updated Daily
  • News
  • Medical
  • Technology
  • Nanomaterials
  • Research
  • Blog
    • Nasiol.com
  • Contact
    • Tech7685@gmail.com
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Nanotech – Nanomaterials | Medical | Research | News Stories Updated Daily Nanotech – Nanomaterials | Medical | Research | News Stories Updated Daily
Home»News»3D imaging technique captures dynamic atomic shifts in nanoparticles, revealing unexpected structural phases
News

3D imaging technique captures dynamic atomic shifts in nanoparticles, revealing unexpected structural phases

March 13, 2025No Comments5 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Telegram LinkedIn Tumblr WhatsApp Email
3D imaging technique captures dynamic atomic shifts in nanoparticles, revealing unexpected structural phases
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Telegram Email
Method for analyzing 3D atomic structural changes in nanoparticles using the time-resolved Brownian tomography technique. Nanoparticles moving within a graphene liquid cell are imaged using transmission electron microscopy, and the captured images are reconstructed in 3D over time. Credit: Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-56476-8

A research team from Seoul National University College of Engineering has developed a technology to observe atomic structural changes of nanoparticles in three dimensions. Their study, which resolves a long-standing challenge even past Nobel laureates could not solve, was published online in Nature Communications on January 29.

Recently, nanoparticles have garnered significant attention as they are widely used in developing functional materials for cutting-edge industries such as energy, environment, and medicine. Due to their nanoscale size—measuring just a few nanometers—nanoparticles exhibit unique physical and chemical properties. Their reactivity varies significantly with size, making it crucial to observe structural changes.

However, existing techniques for analyzing nanostructures have limitations. They are often restricted to fixed nanoparticles under vacuum conditions or provide only averaged information from multiple nanoparticles, limiting observations to simple structural identification. As a result, directly observing the three-dimensional atomic structure of individual nanoparticles over time in liquid environments remains a formidable technical challenge.

Unlike nanoparticles, the three-dimensional atomic structures of proteins have already been elucidated. This breakthrough was made possible by the revolutionary cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) technique developed by three scientists who won the 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Building on this innovation, Professor Jungwon Park’s research team further advanced the field by developing a ‘liquid transmission electron microscopy (liquid TEM)’ technique using graphene, allowing three-dimensional visualization of nanostructures in solution. The research team’s previous study on this technique, called Brownian tomography, was featured on the cover of Science in 2020.







Cropped movie of denoised TEM image of a representative Pt nanocrystal. Credit: Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-56476-8

Continuing this trajectory, Professor Park’s team has now developed the time-resolved Brownian tomography technique, enabling real-time tracking of three-dimensional atomic structural changes in individual nanoparticles. This advancement opens new avenues for a deeper understanding of atomic-level changes in nanoparticles during complex chemical reactions. Particularly significant is that this research, supported by Samsung’s Future Technology Development Program—an initiative that funds pioneering research tackling scientific grand challenges—has successfully addressed a previously unsolvable problem.

See also  Using light to precisely control single-molecule devices

The research team developed a method to observe freely moving nanoparticles in solution by leveraging the graphene liquid cell transmission electron microscopy (Graphene Liquid Cell TEM) technique. This method involves capturing nanoparticles undergoing Brownian motion (random movement of microscopic particles in fluid) from multiple angles over time and reconstructing the collected data into a three-dimensional visualization.

Unlike conventional TEM, which typically examines fixed nanoparticles in vacuum conditions, or spectroscopic methods that only provide averaged information from numerous nanoparticles, this breakthrough represents a significant leap forward. It is the first-ever technology capable of directly measuring the three-dimensional atomic arrangement of a single nanoparticle as it dynamically changes in a liquid environment.

Furthermore, using the newly developed technique, the research team conducted an in-depth study on the structural changes of platinum (Pt) nanoparticles at the atomic level during the etching (chemical corrosion) process. They successfully captured the precise moments when surface atoms detached (desorbed), rearranged, or reattached (re-adsorbed) in three dimensions.

Additionally, they discovered that when the nanocrystals shrank to around 1 nm in size, a highly disordered phase emerged—an unexpected finding since platinum generally exhibits a highly ordered atomic structure. This study suggests that extremely small nanoparticles may exhibit unique structural characteristics distinct from their larger counterparts, even when composed of the same elemental material.

SNU researchers develop world's first technology to observe atomic structural changes of nanoparticles in 3D
(a) Observation of platinum nanoparticle etching using time-resolved Brownian tomography. (b) Changes in crystallinity of platinum nanoparticles during etching. (c) Structural changes of surface atoms during etching, revealing a transition from an ordered to a disordered phase. Credit: Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-56476-8

Additionally, the time-resolved Brownian tomography technique is regarded as a transformative advancement in atomic structure observation, surpassing conventional ‘transmission electron microscopy’ (TEM) and cryo-TEM, the latter of which was crucial in winning the 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. This innovation allows researchers to analyze how nanomaterials’ three-dimensional structures evolve over time under various chemical conditions such as applied voltage or reactive solution composition.

See also  Achieving the goal with UV-assisted atomic layer deposition

Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights.
Sign up for our free newsletter and get updates on breakthroughs,
innovations, and research that matter—daily or weekly.

The study’s findings are expected to provide a more precise understanding of structural changes affecting the performance of next-generation nanomaterials, including metals, semiconductors, and oxides. Moreover, this research successfully observed structural changes in platinum nanoparticles—critical catalysts for eco-friendly hydrogen energy applications—laying the groundwork for future high-performance catalyst development.

Professor Park emphasized, “The development of time-resolved Brownian tomography continues the legacy of the 2017 Nobel Prize-winning cryo-TEM and our 2020 Science cover-featured liquid TEM innovation. This new technique will significantly contribute to unraveling complex reaction mechanisms in hydrogen fuel cells, CO₂ conversion catalysts, lithium-ion batteries, and other advanced energy materials, facilitating the design of superior materials.”

The paper’s lead author, Sungsu Kang, remarked, “Our research directly captured real-time atomic-level structural changes of nanocrystals in liquid environments. This achievement is particularly significant because it successfully visualized surface atomic movements and the emergence of new phases unique to nanomaterials—phenomena that were challenging to detect using conventional spectroscopic or electrochemical methods.”

Provided by
Seoul National University



Source link

atomic Captures dynamic Imaging nanoparticles phases revealing Shifts structural Technique unexpected
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Related Posts

A new molecular model of bilayer graphene with higher semiconducting properties

May 31, 2025

5 Nanomaterial Innovations That Didn’t Deliver (Yet)

May 30, 2025

Scientists identify new 2D copper boride material with unique atomic structure

May 30, 2025

Nanoscale biosensor lets scientists monitor molecules in real time

May 30, 2025

How should we govern nanotechnology?

May 29, 2025

The Future of Needle-Free Immunization

May 28, 2025

Comments are closed.

Top Articles

New nano-microscope enables simultaneous measurement of nano-composite material properties

Silver nanoparticles and a new sensing method can fight back against antibiotic-resistant biofilms

News

The UK’s National Semiconductor Strategy: A Review

Editors Picks

A new molecular model of bilayer graphene with higher semiconducting properties

May 31, 2025

5 Nanomaterial Innovations That Didn’t Deliver (Yet)

May 30, 2025

Scientists identify new 2D copper boride material with unique atomic structure

May 30, 2025

New contact lenses allow wearers to see in the near-infrared

May 30, 2025
About Us
About Us

Your go-to source for the latest nanotechnology breakthroughs. Explore innovations, applications, and implications shaping the future at the molecular level. Stay informed, embrace the nano-revolution.

We're accepting new partnerships right now.

Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
Our Picks

‘Nanosnag’ virus detection technique could streamline vaccine production quality checks

March 19, 2025

A novel avenue for engineering 2D MXene family via precious metals atomic layer deposition techniques

January 10, 2024

Measuring time accurately increases the entropy in the universe

August 9, 2023

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest creative Nano Tech news from Elnano.com

© 2025 Elnano.com - All rights reserved.
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

Cleantalk Pixel