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Tracking metal electrodeposition dynamics from nucleation and growth of a single atom to a crystalline nanoparticle

Tracking metal electrodeposition dynamics from nucleation and growth of a single atom to a crystalline nanoparticle
Tracking metal electrodeposition dynamics from nucleation and growth of a single atom to a crystalline nanoparticle

In electrodeposition the key challenge is to obtain better control over nanostructure morphology. Currently, a lack of understanding exists concerning the initial stages of nucleation and growth, which ultimately impact the physicochemical properties of the resulting entities. Using identical location scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), with boron-doped diamond (BDD) serving as both an electron-transparent TEM substrate and electrode, we follow this process, from the formation of an individual metal atom through to a crystalline metal nanoparticle, under potential pulsed conditions. In doing so, we reveal the importance of electrochemically driven atom transport, atom cluster formation, cluster progression to a nanoparticle, and the mechanism by which neighboring particles interact during growth. Such information will help formulate improved nucleation and growth models and promote wider uptake of electrodeposited structures in a wide range of societally important applications. This type of measurement is possible in the TEM because the BDD possesses inherent stability, has an extremely high thermal conductivity, is electron beam transparent, is free from contamination, and is robust enough for multiple deposition and imaging cycles. Moreover, the platform can be operated under conditions such that we have confidence that the dynamic atom events we image are truly due to electrochemically driven deposition and no other factors, such as electron-beam-induced movement.

atom, boron-doped diamond, electrodeposition, gold, identical-location, nanoparticle, transmission electron microscopy
1936-0851
7388-7396
Hussein, Haytham E. M.
2a3e32d5-a214-4cc0-9333-152c7c06c8f9
Maurer, Reinhard J.
c94a5ca6-b9cf-4bb7-abf3-0fa03fbdc65a
Amari, Houari
09fff778-0d8b-4e4a-8138-0314867ed2bc
Peters, Jonathan J. P.
3c661fd3-23a3-4bd9-9379-b98b0a84d28f
Meng, Lingcong
8de7a0cb-c6aa-4dfd-94f5-bcdae5105a56
Beanland, Richard
562e4354-94d4-454a-8d45-14e85ececb10
Newton, Mark E.
2ff6cc90-cd0f-4682-a936-7fd30d981874
Macpherson, Julie V.
0e1f723d-bd4e-497a-9ac9-4971c6dcace0
Hussein, Haytham E. M.
2a3e32d5-a214-4cc0-9333-152c7c06c8f9
Maurer, Reinhard J.
c94a5ca6-b9cf-4bb7-abf3-0fa03fbdc65a
Amari, Houari
09fff778-0d8b-4e4a-8138-0314867ed2bc
Peters, Jonathan J. P.
3c661fd3-23a3-4bd9-9379-b98b0a84d28f
Meng, Lingcong
8de7a0cb-c6aa-4dfd-94f5-bcdae5105a56
Beanland, Richard
562e4354-94d4-454a-8d45-14e85ececb10
Newton, Mark E.
2ff6cc90-cd0f-4682-a936-7fd30d981874
Macpherson, Julie V.
0e1f723d-bd4e-497a-9ac9-4971c6dcace0

Hussein, Haytham E. M., Maurer, Reinhard J., Amari, Houari, Peters, Jonathan J. P., Meng, Lingcong, Beanland, Richard, Newton, Mark E. and Macpherson, Julie V. (2018) Tracking metal electrodeposition dynamics from nucleation and growth of a single atom to a crystalline nanoparticle. ACS Nano, 12 (7), 7388-7396. (doi:10.1021/acsnano.8b04089).

Record type: Article

Abstract

In electrodeposition the key challenge is to obtain better control over nanostructure morphology. Currently, a lack of understanding exists concerning the initial stages of nucleation and growth, which ultimately impact the physicochemical properties of the resulting entities. Using identical location scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), with boron-doped diamond (BDD) serving as both an electron-transparent TEM substrate and electrode, we follow this process, from the formation of an individual metal atom through to a crystalline metal nanoparticle, under potential pulsed conditions. In doing so, we reveal the importance of electrochemically driven atom transport, atom cluster formation, cluster progression to a nanoparticle, and the mechanism by which neighboring particles interact during growth. Such information will help formulate improved nucleation and growth models and promote wider uptake of electrodeposited structures in a wide range of societally important applications. This type of measurement is possible in the TEM because the BDD possesses inherent stability, has an extremely high thermal conductivity, is electron beam transparent, is free from contamination, and is robust enough for multiple deposition and imaging cycles. Moreover, the platform can be operated under conditions such that we have confidence that the dynamic atom events we image are truly due to electrochemically driven deposition and no other factors, such as electron-beam-induced movement.

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More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 3 July 2018
Published date: 24 July 2018
Keywords: atom, boron-doped diamond, electrodeposition, gold, identical-location, nanoparticle, transmission electron microscopy

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 424937
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/424937
ISSN: 1936-0851
PURE UUID: 5e15f807-19c4-41f6-a7ce-2480a8386850
ORCID for Lingcong Meng: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-3995-3584

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 05 Oct 2018 16:30
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 12:09

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Contributors

Author: Reinhard J. Maurer
Author: Houari Amari
Author: Jonathan J. P. Peters
Author: Lingcong Meng ORCID iD
Author: Richard Beanland
Author: Mark E. Newton
Author: Julie V. Macpherson

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