Carlino, E.; Taurino, A.; Hasa, D.; Bučar, D.-K.; Polentarutti, M.; Chinchilla, L.E.; Calvino Gamez, J.J. Direct Imaging of Radiation-Sensitive Organic Polymer-Based Nanocrystals at Sub-Ångström Resolution. Nanomaterials2024, 14, 872.
Carlino, E.; Taurino, A.; Hasa, D.; Bučar, D.-K.; Polentarutti, M.; Chinchilla, L.E.; Calvino Gamez, J.J. Direct Imaging of Radiation-Sensitive Organic Polymer-Based Nanocrystals at Sub-Ångström Resolution. Nanomaterials 2024, 14, 872.
Carlino, E.; Taurino, A.; Hasa, D.; Bučar, D.-K.; Polentarutti, M.; Chinchilla, L.E.; Calvino Gamez, J.J. Direct Imaging of Radiation-Sensitive Organic Polymer-Based Nanocrystals at Sub-Ångström Resolution. Nanomaterials2024, 14, 872.
Carlino, E.; Taurino, A.; Hasa, D.; Bučar, D.-K.; Polentarutti, M.; Chinchilla, L.E.; Calvino Gamez, J.J. Direct Imaging of Radiation-Sensitive Organic Polymer-Based Nanocrystals at Sub-Ångström Resolution. Nanomaterials 2024, 14, 872.
Abstract
Seeing atomic configuration of single organic nanoparticles at sub-Å spatial resolution by transmission electron microscopy has been so far prevented by the high sensitivity of soft matter to radiation damage. The difficulty is related to the need to irradiate the particle with a total dose of few electrons/Å2, not compatible with the electron beam density necessary to search the low-contrast nanoparticle, to control its drift, to finely adjust the electro-optical conditions and particle orientation, and to finally acquire an effective atomic resolution image. On the other hand, the capability to study individual pristine nanoparticles, such as proteins, active pharmaceutical ingredients, and polymers, with peculiar sensitivity to the variation of the local structure, defects, and strain, would provide advancements in many fields, including materials science, medicine, biology, and pharmacology. Here we report direct sub-ångström resolution imaging at room temperature of pristine unstained crystalline polymer-based nanoparticles. This result is obtained by combining low-dose in-line electron holography and phase-contrast imaging on state-of-the-art equipment, providing an effective tool for the quantitative sub-angstrom imaging of soft matter.
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