applications

Advanced methods in liquid:
EDX, Holography, EELS

Mixing in field of view
observe chemical reactions

Nucleation, growth dynamics
& crystallization

Bio-samples: Proteins, VLPs
and bacteriophages

Advanced TEM techniques

With consistent high resolution available, consistent liquid thickness, and a large opening in the chip, it becomes possible to do 3D electron diffraction, holography and EDS in the Nano Channels Chip.

3D Electron Diffraction
Using 3DED, we investigate atomic arrangements in crystals. Electron beams probe crystal structures, generating data that unravel lattice arrangements. Particularly, a glycine crystal grown in our Nano Channel Chip was studied, revealing intriguing structural details via +/-15 degrees tilt in a TEM. Our active collaboration with Prof. Xiaodong Zou of Stockholm University has been fruitful, garnering rich data for glycine crystals in our channels, helped by PhD student Tayyaba Malik.

Electron energy loss spectroscopy
The precise and consistent liquid thickness of our Nano Channel Chip, makes it ideal for EELS in liquid. Our research group presents a compelling and exemplary case of utilizing EELS to quantify the electron inelastic mean free path (IMFP) in water, achieved by employing electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) within the context of a transmission electron microscope (TEM).
DOI: 10.1039/d0nr04352d‍

Electron dispersive X-ray
In liquid-cell TEM it is important that these X-rays can escape the liquid-cell and make it to the X-ray detector. The Nano Channel Chip has a wide opening, allowing X-rays to escape with an angle of 60 degrees! In combination with alpha-tilting, the Nano Channel Chip is ideal for high signal to noise measurements using EDX.
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.065502‍

Mix liquids directly in the field of view

Four different kinds of mixing
Utilizing our freedom to make channels in any pattern, we can optimize the Nano Channel Chip for mixing in various ways. Some are dependent on a steady flow of liquids coming together in a channel or an array of channels, whereas other methods create two volumes of liquid diffusing together. The common trait of these methods is that it is now possible to determine in a reliable and reproducible manner when, where and how two liquids come together inside the TEM.

Observe chemical reactions
‍Mixing in these various ways can be used to observe:      
- Chemical reactions      
- Precipitation/nucleation      
- Changes to already present environments, which may reflect on particles in the channels.
‍

Nucleation and growth

In-situ dynamics
With pre-defined liquid thicknesses down to 20 nm and membranes down to 10 nm, you have access to high resolution with every chip. And each chip requires no assembly time - just put it in the holder, screw on the lid and inject your liquid sample.

The image here was taken by David Mücke in Ute Kaiser's group from Ulm University in Germany. It is beam-induced gold nucleating from a solution of 0.5 mM HAuCl4 in a Thermo Fischer Titan TEM. The Nano Channel Chip used had 10 nm membranes and 60 nm liquid

Image unstained bio-samples

Life science
The Nano Chanel Chip is the most reliable commercial solution for liquid-cell TEM on the market when it comes to quickly getting images of bio-samples.The images you see here are of ferritin, liposomes, Qbeta and virus-like particles. All these samples have simply been drop-casted onto an inlet of a Nano Channel Chip, capillary forces have effortlessly sucked the liquid into the nano channels and the imaging has been straight forward.
The images are even taken in ~240 nm deep liquid with ~40 nm thick membranes – which means we can do much better! We have chips with 20 nm liquid and 10 nm membranes - and we look very much forward to replicating these results with even better resolution. Image credit: Mads S. Larsen and Tayyaba Malik.

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