Characterisation of Nanoparticle Structure by High Resolution Electron Microscopy

Whilst the use of microscopic techniques to determine the size distributions of nanoparticle samples is now well established, their characterisation challenges extend well beyond this. Here it is shown how high resolution electron microscopy can help meet these challenges. One of the key parameters is the determination of particle shape and structure in three dimensions. Here two approaches to determining nanoparticle structure are described and demonstrated. In the first scanning transmission electron microscopy combined with high angle annular dark field imaging (HAADF-STEM) is used to image homogenous nanoparticles, where the contrast is directly related to the thickness of the material in the electron beam. It is shown that this can be related to the three dimensional shape of the nano-object. High resolution TEM imaging, combined with fast Fourier transform (FFT) analysis, can determine the crystalline structure and orientation of nanoparticles as well as the presence of any defects. This combined approach allows the physical structure of a significant number of nano-objects to be characterised, relatively quickly.