Dynamics of Soft Nanomaterials Captured by Transmission Electron Microscopy in Liquid Water

• Published in: Journal of the American Chemical Society Vol. 136; no. 4; pp. 1162 - 1165
• Main Authors: Proetto, Maria T, Rush, Anthony M, Chien, Miao-Ping, Abellan Baeza, Patricia, Patterson, Joseph P, Thompson, Matthew P, Olson, Norman H, Moore, Curtis E, Rheingold, Arnold L, Andolina, Christopher, Millstone, Jill, Howell, Stephen B, Browning, Nigel D, Evans, James E, Gianneschi, Nathan C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 29.01.2014
• Subjects: image analysis; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; Models, Molecular; Molecular Structure; nanoparticles; Nanoparticles - chemistry; Particle Size; polymerization; Polymers - chemical synthesis; Polymers - chemistry; Surface Properties; Thermodynamics; transmission electron microscopy; Water - chemistry
• ISSN: 0002-7863; 1520-5126; 1520-5126
• DOI: 10.1021/ja408513m

In this paper we present in situ transmission electron microscopy of synthetic polymeric nanoparticles with emphasis on capturing motion in a solvated, aqueous state. The nanoparticles studied were obtained from the direct polymerization of a Pt(II)-containing monomer. The resulting structures provided sufficient contrast for facile imaging in situ. We contend that this technique will quickly become essential in the characterization of analogous systems, especially where dynamics are of interest in the solvated state. We describe the preparation of the synthetic micellar nanoparticles together with their characterization and motion in liquid water with comparison to conventional electron microscopy analyses.