Abstract
In this paper, we describe the use of liquid cell transmission electron microscopy (LCTEM) for inducing and imaging the formation of spherical micelles from amphiphilic block copolymers. Within the irradiated region of the liquid cell, diblock copolymers were produced which self-assembled, yielding a targeted spherical micellar phase via polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA). Critically, we demonstrate that nanoparticle formation can be visualized in situ and that in the presence of excess monomer, nanoparticle growth occurs to yield sizes and morphologies consistent with standard PISA conditions. Experiments were enabled by employing automated LCTEM sample preparation and by analyzing LCTEM data with multi-object tracking algorithms designed for the detection of low-contrast materials.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 543-547 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | ACS Central Science |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 23 2018 |
Funding
This research was conducted with Government support under and awarded by DoD through the ARO (W911NF-17-1-0326), an ARO MURI (W911NF-15-1-0568), an AFOSR MURI (FA9550-16-1-0150), and an AFOSR National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship, 32 CFR 168a, to M.A.T. We acknowledge the use of the UCSD Cryo-Electron Microscopy Facility, supported by NIH funding, to Dr. Timothy S. Baker and the Agouron Institute gifts to UCSD. This work also made use of the EPIC facility of Northwestern University’s NUANCE Center, which has received support from the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF ECCS-1542205); the MRSEC program (NSF DMR-1720139) at the Materials Research Center; the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN); the Keck Foundation; and the State of Illinois, through the IIN. The algorithmic developments for the image background subtraction and multi-object tracking analysis were supported by NSF (CMMI-1334012) and AFOSR (FA9550-16-1-0110).
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Chemical Engineering
- General Chemistry