Liquid cell transmission electron microscopy and the impact of confinement on the precipitation from supersaturated solutions

TY - JOUR

T1 - Liquid cell transmission electron microscopy and the impact of confinement on the precipitation from supersaturated solutions

AU - Kröger, Roland

AU - Verch, Andreas

N1 - © 2018 by the authors.

PY - 2018/1/15

Y1 - 2018/1/15

N2 - The study of nucleation and growth from supersaturated ion solutions is a key area of interest in biomineralization research and beyond with high-resolution in situ imaging techniques such as liquid cell transmission electron microscopy (LCTEM) attracting substantial attention. However, there is increasing experimental evidence that experiments performed with this technique differ from those performed in bulk solutions due to the spatial restriction, which is a prerequisite for LCTEM to provide electron transparent samples. We have performed 2D Finite Elements (FE) simulations to study the impact of confinement on the steady state concentration profiles around a nanoparticle in a supersaturated solution of the constituent ions. We find that confinement below a critical value significantly reduces the concentration of available ions in solutions and hence the stability of the precipitates. These findings could explain the necessity to substantially increase ion activities of Ca2+ and CO32− to induce precipitation in LCTEM

AB - The study of nucleation and growth from supersaturated ion solutions is a key area of interest in biomineralization research and beyond with high-resolution in situ imaging techniques such as liquid cell transmission electron microscopy (LCTEM) attracting substantial attention. However, there is increasing experimental evidence that experiments performed with this technique differ from those performed in bulk solutions due to the spatial restriction, which is a prerequisite for LCTEM to provide electron transparent samples. We have performed 2D Finite Elements (FE) simulations to study the impact of confinement on the steady state concentration profiles around a nanoparticle in a supersaturated solution of the constituent ions. We find that confinement below a critical value significantly reduces the concentration of available ions in solutions and hence the stability of the precipitates. These findings could explain the necessity to substantially increase ion activities of Ca2+ and CO32− to induce precipitation in LCTEM

KW - Confinement

KW - Crystallization

KW - Liquid cell TEM

KW - Precipitation

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85040830270&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/min8010021

DO - 10.3390/min8010021

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85040830270

SN - 2075-163X

VL - 8

JO - Minerals

JF - Minerals

IS - 1

M1 - 21

ER -