TY - JOUR
T1 - In Situ Observation of Nucleation and Crystallization of a Single Nanoparticle in Transparent Media
AU - Wang, Ting
AU - Lu, Wei
AU - Yang, Qihua
AU - Li, Sai
AU - Yu, Xue
AU - Qiu, Jianbei
AU - Xu, Xuhui
AU - Yu, Siu Fung
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank Ye Zhu and Yue Lin for fruitful discussions. This work was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (61775187, 61965012, 11664022), Science and Technology Projects of Shenzhen (JCYJ20170818105010341), the Excellent Youth Project of Yunnan Province Applied Basic Research Project (2019FI001), and the Reserve Talents Project of Yunnan Province (2017HB011).
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/7/16
Y1 - 2020/7/16
N2 - Glass-ceramic is a new type of transparent medium that consists of glassy matrix and nanoparticles (NPs). However, the corresponding atomic-scale growth dynamic of the NPs is unclear due to the lack of an appropriate measurement method. Here, we propose a real-time in situ transmission electron microscopy imaging method to study the growth of ZnO, Ba2LaF7, and Ag NPs inside the transparent glass. Because of the slow nucleation rate and stable growth environment of the glassy matrix under electron beam irradiation, the amorphous-to-crystalline phase transition of all the NPs can be captured in detail. As a result, we reveal the missing puzzle of the nucleation dynamic: the heterogeneous crystallization occurs initially at the interface of an amorphous nanocluster. By directly observing the NPs crystallization processes (i.e., particularly the multistep growth pathways of the NPs from the glassy matrix), we can unify the nonclassical nucleation theory and classical nucleation theory to describe the growth process of NPs.
AB - Glass-ceramic is a new type of transparent medium that consists of glassy matrix and nanoparticles (NPs). However, the corresponding atomic-scale growth dynamic of the NPs is unclear due to the lack of an appropriate measurement method. Here, we propose a real-time in situ transmission electron microscopy imaging method to study the growth of ZnO, Ba2LaF7, and Ag NPs inside the transparent glass. Because of the slow nucleation rate and stable growth environment of the glassy matrix under electron beam irradiation, the amorphous-to-crystalline phase transition of all the NPs can be captured in detail. As a result, we reveal the missing puzzle of the nucleation dynamic: the heterogeneous crystallization occurs initially at the interface of an amorphous nanocluster. By directly observing the NPs crystallization processes (i.e., particularly the multistep growth pathways of the NPs from the glassy matrix), we can unify the nonclassical nucleation theory and classical nucleation theory to describe the growth process of NPs.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85089267100&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c03402
DO - 10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c03402
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85089267100
SN - 1932-7447
VL - 124
SP - 15533
EP - 15540
JO - Journal of Physical Chemistry C
JF - Journal of Physical Chemistry C
IS - 28
ER -