Journal article
Atomic scale dynamics of a solid state chemical reaction directly determined by annular dark-field electron microscopy
- Abstract:
- Dynamic processes, such as solid-state chemical reactions and phase changes, are ubiquitous in materials science and developing a capability to observe the mechanisms of such processes on the atomic scale can offer new insights across a wide range of materials systems. Aberration correction in scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) has enabled atomic resolution imaging at significantly reduced beam energies and electron doses. It has also made possible the quantitative determination of the composition and occupancy of atomic columns using the atomic number (Z)-contrast annular dark-field (ADF) imaging available in STEM. Here we combine these benefits to record the motions and quantitative changes in the occupancy of individual atomic columns during a solid-state chemical reaction in manganese oxides. These oxides are of great interest for energy-storage applications such as for electrode materials in pseudocapacitors. We employ rapid scanning in STEM to both drive and directly observe the atomic scale dynamics behind the transformation of Mn3O4 into MnO. The results demonstrate we now have the experimental capability to understand the complex atomic mechanisms involved in phase changes and solid state chemical reactions.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 1.4MB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1038/srep07555
Authors
- Publisher:
- Springer Nature
- Journal:
- Scientific Reports More from this journal
- Volume:
- 4
- Article number:
- 7555
- Publication date:
- 2014-12-22
- Acceptance date:
- 2014-11-07
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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2045-2322
- Language:
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English
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
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pubs:500989
- UUID:
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uuid:fe1ddc0c-9a38-4855-b0e9-4eec46d25eb4
- Local pid:
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pubs:500989
- Source identifiers:
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500989
- Deposit date:
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2014-12-28
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Pennycook, TJ et al
- Copyright date:
- 2014
- Notes:
- © 2014 Pennycook, TJ et al. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder in order to reproduce the material.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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