Structural changes of poly(butadiene)-poly(ethyleneoxide) diblock-copolymer micelles induced by a cationic surfactant: Scattering and cryogenic transmission electron microscopy studies

Those samples which swell rapidly when exposed to water are, at best, difficult to section for transmission electron microscopy. Some materials literally burst out of the embedding block with the first pass by the knife, and even the most rapid cutting cycle produces sections of limited value. Many ion exchange resins swell in water; some undergo irreversible structural changes when dried. We developed our embedding procedure to handle this type of sample, but it should be applicable to many materials that present similar sectioning difficulties.The purpose of our embedding procedure is to build up a cross-linking network throughout the sample, while it is in a water swollen state. Our procedure was suggested to us by the work of Rosenberg, where he mentioned the formation of a tridimensional structure by the polymerization of the GMA biproduct, triglycol dimethacrylate.

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Probing the Na metal solid electrolyte interphase via cryo-transmission electron microscopy

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-021-23368-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Bing Han ◽

Yucheng Zou ◽

Zhen Zhang ◽

Xuming Yang ◽

Xiaobo Shi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Electron Microscopy ◽

Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽

Solid Electrolyte ◽

Solid Electrolyte Interphase ◽

Metal Electrode ◽

Liquid Electrolyte ◽

Battery Materials ◽

Cryogenic Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽

Transmission Electron ◽

Fluoroethylene Carbonate

AbstractCryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) is a valuable tool recently proposed to investigate battery electrodes. Despite being employed for Li-based battery materials, cryo-TEM measurements for Na-based electrochemical energy storage systems are not commonly reported. In particular, elucidating the chemical and morphological behavior of the Na-metal electrode in contact with a non-aqueous liquid electrolyte solution could provide useful insights that may lead to a better understanding of metal cells during operation. Here, using cryo-TEM, we investigate the effect of fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) additive on the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) structure of a Na-metal electrode. Without FEC, the NaPF6-containing carbonate-based electrolyte reacts with the metal electrode to produce an unstable SEI, rich in Na2CO3 and Na3PO4, which constantly consumes the sodium reservoir of the cell during cycling. When FEC is used, the Na-metal electrode forms a multilayer SEI structure comprising an outer NaF-rich amorphous phase and an inner Na3PO4 phase. This layered structure stabilizes the SEI and prevents further reactions between the electrolyte and the Na metal.

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Alpha helical surfactant-like peptides self-assemble into pH-dependent nanostructures

Soft Matter ◽

10.1039/d0sm02095h ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 17 (11) ◽

pp. 3096-3104

Author(s):

Valeria Castelletto ◽

Jani Seitsonen ◽

Janne Ruokolainen ◽

Ian W. Hamley

Keyword(s):

Electron Microscopy ◽

Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽

Small Angle ◽

Self Assembly ◽

X Ray ◽

Cryogenic Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽

X Ray Scattering ◽

Transmission Electron ◽

Ph Dependent ◽

Ray Scattering

A designed surfactant-like peptide is shown, using a combination of cryogenic-transmission electron microscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering, to have remarkable pH-dependent self-assembly properties.

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Structure Prediction of Self-Assembled Dye Aggregates from Cryogenic Transmission Electron Microscopy, Molecular Mechanics, and Theory of Optical Spectra

The Journal of Physical Chemistry C ◽

10.1021/acs.jpcc.6b05856 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 120 (34) ◽

pp. 19416-19433 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Christian Friedl ◽

Thomas Renger ◽

Hans v. Berlepsch ◽

Kai Ludwig ◽

Marcel Schmidt am Busch ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Electron Microscopy ◽

Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽

Molecular Mechanics ◽

Structure Prediction ◽

Optical Spectra ◽

Cryogenic Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽

Transmission Electron ◽

Self Assembled

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Ultrastructures of Epibiotic Suctorian, Tokophrya huangmeiensis

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.4521.1.12 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 4521 (1) ◽

pp. 145

Author(s):

URFA BIN TAHIR ◽

DENG QIONG ◽

WANG ZHE ◽

LI SEN ◽

LIU YANG ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Electron Microscopy ◽

Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽

Light Microscopy ◽

Structural Changes ◽

Small Subunit ◽

Free Living ◽

Transmission Electron ◽

Small Subunit Ribosomal Dna ◽

Ribosomal Dna Sequence ◽

Freshwater Ciliates

Tokophrya species are either free-living or facultative ectosymbiotic suctorians associated with copepods, isopods, mysids, decapods and amphipods. Tokophrya huangmeiensis in particular is found to be epizoic with the redclaw crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus Von Martens, 1868, which has been observed as part of an ongoing investigation of freshwater ciliates biodiversity in Huanggang, Hubei, China (Tahir et al. 2017). This first study on T. huangmeiensis based on morphological features using light microscopy and small subunit ribosomal DNA sequence (Tahir et al. 2017), suggested that more detailed descriptions on the physiological and structural changes of this species should be done. Thus, in this study, we looked at the ultrastructures of T. huangmeiensis using electron microscopy, including both scanning (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).

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