Ultrafast electron crystallography of interfacial water

Superdiffusive Rotation of Interfacial Water on Noble Metal Surface

Interfacial water on a metal surface acts as an active layer through the reorientation of water, thereby facilitating the energy transfer and chemical reaction across the metal surface in various physicochemical and industrial processes. However, how this active interfacial water collectively behaves on flat noble metal substrates remains largely unknown due to the experimental limitation in capturing librational vibrational motion of interfacial water and prohibitive computational costs at the first-principles level. Herein, by implementing a machine-learning approach to train neural network potentials, we enable performing advanced molecular dynamics simulations with ab initio accuracy at a nanosecond scale to map the distinct rotational motion of water molecules on a metal surface at room temperature. The vibrational density of states of the interfacial water with two-layer profiles reveals that the rotation and vibration of water within the strong adsorption layer on the metal surface behave as if the water molecules in the bulk ice, wherein the O-H stretching frequency is well consistent with the experimental results. Unexpectedly, the water molecules within the adjacent weak adsorption layer exhibit superdiffusive rotation, contrary to the conventional diffusive rotation of bulk water, while the vibrational motion maintains the characteristic of bulk water. The mechanism underlying this abnormal superdiffusive rotation is attributed to the translation-rotation decoupling of water, in which the translation is restrained by the strong hydrogen bonding within the bilayer interfacial water, whereas the rotation is accelerated freely by the asymmetric water environment. This superdiffusive rotation dynamics may elucidate the experimentally observed large fluctuation of the potential of zero charge on Pt and thereby the conventional Helmholtz layer model revised by including the contribution of interfacial water orientation. The surprising superdiffusive rotation of vicinal water next to noble metals will shed new light on the physicochemical processes and the activity of water molecules near metal electrodes or catalysts.

Structural dynamics at surfaces by ultrafast reflection high-energy electron diffraction

Many fundamental processes of structural changes at surfaces occur on a pico- or femtosecond timescale. In order to study such ultrafast processes, we have combined modern surface science techniques with fs-laser pulses in a pump-probe scheme. Grazing incidence of the electrons ensures surface sensitivity in ultrafast reflection high-energy electron diffraction (URHEED). Utilizing the Debye-Waller effect, we studied the nanoscale heat transport from an ultrathin film through a hetero-interface or the damping of vibrational excitations in monolayer adsorbate systems on the lower ps-timescale. By means of spot profile analysis, the different cooling rates of epitaxial Ge nanostructures of different size and strain state were determined. The excitation and relaxation dynamics of a driven phase transition far away from thermal equilibrium is demonstrated using the In-induced (8 × 2) reconstruction on Si(111). This Peierls-distorted surface charge density wave system exhibits a discontinuous phase transition of first order at 130 K from a (8 × 2) insulating ground state to (4 × 1) metallic excited state. Upon excitation by a fs-laser pulse, this structural phase transition is non-thermally driven in only 700 fs into the excited state. A small barrier of 40 meV hinders the immediate recovery of the ground state, and the system is found in a metastable supercooled state for up to few nanoseconds.

Nanoscale Energy Transport Dynamics across Nonbonded Solid-Molecule Interfaces and in Molecular Thin Films

Thermal conductance across a solid-solid interface requires an atomic- or molecular-level understanding, especially when a system is in a non-equilibrium state and/or consists of nanosized materials with prominent differences in structures, properties, and vibrational behaviors. Here, we report the lattice dynamics of graphite-supported molecular thin films of ethanol, whose layers exhibit in-plane hydrogen-bonded chains and out-of-plane van der Waals stacking with clear structural anisotropy. The direct structure-probing method of ultrafast electron diffraction reveals a surprising temperature difference of more than 400 K at pico- to sub-nanosecond times across the graphite-ethanol interface, yet the temporal behavior signifies a reasonably large thermal boundary conductance. This apparent conflict in a non-equilibrium condition can be resolved by considering the coupling of out-of-plane motions, instead of the commonly used temperature-based model, at transient times for energy transport across the interface separated by van der Waals interactions with mismatched unit sizes and no strong bonds. The importance of spatiotemporally resolved structural dynamics at the atomic or molecular level is emphasized.

Influences of 1-Propanol and Methanol Additives on Crystallization of Thin Amorphous Solid Water Films

In general, randomly oriented ice crystallites are formed by heating amorphous solid water (ASW) films at ∼160 K via homogeneous nucleation. Here, we demonstrate that monolayers of methanol and 1-propanol additives incorporated in the multilayer ASW film lead to heterogeneous nucleation at the substrate interface of Pt(111), as evidenced by the occurrence of epitaxial ice growth. The mobility of water in direct contact with the Pt(111) substrate is decreased relative to that in the bulk, but it can be increased via interactions with hydrophobic moieties of alcohols that are segregated to the interfacial region. As a result, heterogeneous nucleation occurs at ca. 160 K along with homogeneous nucleation in the film interior. However, the template effect is quenched when the alcohols are in direct contact with the substrate. The methanol adspecies deposited onto the ASW film surface induces heterogeneous nucleation at a temperature as low as 145 K, but the 1-propanol adspecies has no such an effect. Their different ability of heterogeneous nucleation at the free ASW film surface, as well as their uptake behaviors in the near surface region, is associated with the hydrophobic hydration of the alcohols resulting from different lengths of the aliphatic moiety.

General Synthesis of Large Inorganic Nanosheets via 2D Confined Assembly of Nanoparticles

Assembling nanoparticles to spatially well-defined functional nanomaterials and sophisticated architectures has been an intriguing goal for scientists. However, maintaining a long-range order of assembly to create macrostructures remains a challenge, owing to the reliance on purely interparticle interactions. Here, we present a general strategy to synthesize a class of inorganic nanosheets via a bottom-up directional freezing method. We demonstrate that, by confining a homogeneously dispersed metal-cyano colloidal suspension at the ice-water interface, followed by removal of ice crystals, large nanosheets with a lateral scale of up to several millimeters can be produced. The formation of millimeter-sized nanosheets is attributed to balanced electrostatic forces between dispersed nanoparticles, coupled with an appropriate hydrodynamic size of nanoparticles, potentially favorable lattice matching between nanoparticles and ice crystals, and the intermediate water at the ice-particle interface. The highly anisotropic growth of ice crystals can therefore guide the 2D confined assembly of nanoparticles in a long-range order, leading to well-defined 2D nanosheets. This contribution sheds light on the potential of nanoparticle assembly at larger length scales in designing families of large 2D nanoarchitectures for practical applications.

A plastic feedthrough suitable for high-voltage DC femtosecond electron diffractometers

Highly energetic ultrashort electron bunches have the potential to reveal the ultrafast structural dynamics in relatively thicker in-liquid samples. However, direct current voltages higher than 100 kV are exponentially difficult to attain as surface and vacuum breakdown become an important problem as the electric field increases. One of the most demanding components in the design of a high-energy electrostatic ultrafast electron source is the high voltage feedthrough (HVFT), which must keep the electron gun from discharging against ground. Electrical discharges can cause irreversible component damage, while voltage instabilities render the instrument inoperative. We report the design, manufacturing, and conditioning process for a new HVFT that utilizes ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene as the insulating material. Our HVFT is highly customizable and inexpensive and has proven to be effective in high voltage applications. After a couple of weeks of gas and voltage conditioning, we achieved a maximum voltage of 180 kV with a progressively improved vacuum level of 1.8 × 10^-8 Torr.

The effect of water on colloidal quantum dot solar cells

Almost all surfaces sensitive to the ambient environment are covered by water, whereas the impacts of water on surface-dominated colloidal quantum dot (CQD) semiconductor electronics have rarely been explored. Here, strongly hydrogen-bonded water on hydroxylated lead sulfide (PbS) CQD is identified. The water could pilot the thermally induced evolution of surface chemical environment, which significantly influences the nanostructures, carrier dynamics, and trap behaviors in CQD solar cells. The aggravation of surface hydroxylation and water adsorption triggers epitaxial CQD fusion during device fabrication under humid ambient, giving rise to the inter-band traps and deficiency in solar cells. To address this problem, meniscus-guided-coating technique is introduced to achieve dense-packed CQD solids and extrude ambient water, improving device performance and thermal stability. Our works not only elucidate the water involved PbS CQD surface chemistry, but may also achieve a comprehensive understanding of the impact of ambient water on CQD based electronics.

Utilizing relativistic time dilation for time-resolved studies

Time-resolved studies have so far relied on rapidly triggering a photo-induced dynamic in chemical or biological ions or molecules and subsequently probing them with a beam of fast moving photons or electrons that crosses the studied samples in a short period of time. Hence, the time resolution of the signal is mainly set by the pulse duration of the pump and probe pulses. In this paper, we propose a different approach to this problem that has the potential to consistently achieve orders of magnitude higher time resolutions than what is possible with laser technology or electron beam compression methods. Our proposed approach relies on accelerating the sample to a high speed to achieve relativistic time dilation. Probing the time-dilated sample would open up previously inaccessible time resolution domains.

Structure retrieval in liquid-phase electron scattering

Electron scattering on liquid samples has been enabled recently by the development of ultrathin liquid sheet technologies. The data treatment of liquid-phase electron scattering has been mostly reliant on methodologies developed for gas electron diffraction, in which theoretical inputs and empirical fittings are often needed to account for the atomic form factor and remove the inelastic scattering background. In this work, we present an alternative data treatment method that is able to retrieve the radial distribution of all the charged particle pairs without the need of either theoretical inputs or empirical fittings. The merits of this new method are illustrated through the retrieval of real-space molecular structure from experimental electron scattering patterns of liquid water, carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, and dichloromethane.

Long-range electron transport in Prussian blue analog nanocrystals

We report electron transport measurements through nano-scale devices consisting of 1 to 3 Prussian blue analog (PBA) nanocrystals connected between two electrodes. We compare two types of cubic nanocrystals, CsCoIIIFeII (15 nm) and CsNiIICrIII (6 nm), deposited on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite and contacted by conducting-AFM. The measured currents show an exponential dependence with the length of the PBA nano-device (up to 45 nm), with low decay factors β, in the range 0.11-0.18 nm-1 and 0.25-0.34 nm-1 for the CsCoFe and the CsNiCr nanocrystals, respectively. From the theoretical analysis of the current-voltage curve for the nano-scale device made of a single nanoparticle, we deduce that the electron transport is mediated by the localized d bands at around 0.5 eV from the electrode Fermi energy in the two cases. By comparison with previously reported ab initio calculations, we tentatively identify the involved orbitals as the filled Fe(ii)-t2g d band (HOMO) for CsCoFe and the half-filled Ni(ii)-eg d band (SOMO) for CsNiCr. Conductance values measured for multi-nanoparticle nano-scale devices (2 and 3 nanocrystals between the electrodes) are consistent with a multi-step coherent tunneling in the off-resonance regime between adjacent PBAs, a simple model gives a strong coupling (around 0.1-0.25 eV) between the adjacent PBA nanocrystals, mediated by electrostatic interactions.

Liquid-phase mega-electron-volt ultrafast electron diffraction

The conversion of light into usable chemical and mechanical energy is pivotal to several biological and chemical processes, many of which occur in solution. To understand the structure-function relationships mediating these processes, a technique with high spatial and temporal resolutions is required. Here, we report on the design and commissioning of a liquid-phase mega-electron-volt (MeV) ultrafast electron diffraction instrument for the study of structural dynamics in solution. Limitations posed by the shallow penetration depth of electrons and the resulting information loss due to multiple scattering and the technical challenge of delivering liquids to vacuum were overcome through the use of MeV electrons and a gas-accelerated thin liquid sheet jet. To demonstrate the capabilities of this instrument, the structure of water and its network were resolved up to the 3 rd hydration shell with a spatial resolution of 0.6 Å; preliminary time-resolved experiments demonstrated a temporal resolution of 200 fs.

Reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) study of ice nucleation and growth on Ni(111): influences of adspecies and electron irradiation

How interfacial molecular interactions influence nucleation and growth processes of water ice is explored using pristine, oxygenated, and CO-adsorbed Ni(111) substrates based on RHEED, together with the effects of high-energy electron irradiation on the crystallization kinetics. A monolayer of amorphous solid water deposited onto the pristine Ni(111) substrate crystallizes into ice Ic at ca. 150 K, whereas ice Ih (Ic) is formed preferentially during water vapor deposition at 135 K (125 K). The ice nucleation tends to be hampered on the oxygenated Ni(111) surface because of the hydrogen bond formation with chemisorbed oxygen, leading to the growth of randomly-oriented ice Ic crystallites via spontaneous nucleation. The amorphization and recrystallization of initially crystalline ices are observed during prolonged RHEED measurements at 20 and 70 K, respectively, signifying that high-energy electron irradiation has both thermal and non-thermal effects on the water phase transition. The epitaxial growth (non-epitaxial growth) of ice occurs during electron irradiation of amorphous solid water formed on the pristine and oxygenated Ni(111) substrates (CO-adsorbed Ni(111) substrate) even at 100 K (120 K) because nucleation and growth are initiated at the substrate interface (in the ASW film interior).

Thickness and Structure of Adsorbed Water Layer and Effects on Adhesion and Friction at Nanoasperity Contact

Most inorganic material surfaces exposed to ambient air can adsorb water, and hydrogen bonding interactions among adsorbed water molecules vary depending on, not only intrinsic properties of material surfaces, but also extrinsic working conditions. When dimensions of solid objects shrink to micro- and nano-scales, the ratio of surface area to volume increases greatly and the contribution of water condensation on interfacial forces, such as adhesion (Fa) and friction (Ft), becomes significant. This paper reviews the structural evolution of the adsorbed water layer on solid surfaces and its effect on Fa and Ft at nanoasperity contact for sphere-on-flat geometry. The details of the underlying mechanisms governing water adsorption behaviors vary depending on the atomic structure of the substrate, surface hydrophilicity and atmospheric conditions. The solid surfaces reviewed in this paper include metal/metallic oxides, silicon/silicon oxides, fluorides, and two-dimensional materials. The mechanism by which water condensation influences Fa is discussed based on the competition among capillary force, van der Waals force and the rupture force of solid-like water bridge. The condensed meniscus and the molecular configuration of the water bridge are influenced by surface roughness, surface hydrophilicity, temperature, sliding velocity, which in turn affect the kinetics of water condensation and interfacial Ft. Taking the effects of the thickness and structure of adsorbed water into account is important to obtain a full understanding of the interfacial forces at nanoasperity contact under ambient conditions.

Recent Advances in Ultrafast Structural Techniques

A review that summarizes the most recent technological developments in the field of ultrafast structural dynamics with focus on the use of ultrashort X-ray and electron pulses follows. Atomistic views of chemical processes and phase transformations have long been the exclusive domain of computer simulators. The advent of femtosecond (fs) hard X-ray and fs-electron diffraction techniques made it possible to bring such a level of scrutiny to the experimental area. The following review article provides a summary of the main ultrafast techniques that enabled the generation of atomically resolved movies utilizing ultrashort X-ray and electron pulses. Recent advances are discussed with emphasis on synchrotron-based methods, tabletop fs-X-ray plasma sources, ultrabright fs-electron diffractometers, and timing techniques developed to further improve the temporal resolution and fully exploit the use of intense and ultrashort X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) pulses.

Pulsed electron gun for electron diffraction at surfaces with femtosecond temporal resolution and high coherence length

We present a newly designed 30 kV pulsed electron gun for ultrafast electron diffraction suited for pump-probe setups driven by femtosecond laser pulses. The electron gun can be operated both in transmission and reflection geometry. A robust design with a back illuminated Au photocathode, extraction fields of 7.5 kV/mm, and a magnetic focus lens ensures reliable daily use. Magnetic deflectors allow for beam alignment and characterization. Focusing of the UV pulse on the photocathode results in a small source size of photoemitted electrons and thus a high transverse coherence length of more than 50 nm in diffraction. A low difference of ΔE = 0.1 eV between the work function of the 10 nm Au photocathode and photon energy of the frequency tripled UV laser pulses results in an instrumental temporal resolution of 330 fs full width at half maximum. This resolution is discussed with respect to the number of electrons per pulse.

Crystallization kinetics of thin water films on Pt(111): effects of oxygen and carbon-monoxide adspecies

This paper describes nucleation, epitaxial growth, and wettability of water on Pt(111) and how they are influenced by oxygen and carbon-monoxide adspecies, based on reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED), time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS), and temperature-programmed desorption (TPD). Amorphous solid water deposited onto the pristine Pt(111) substrate crystallizes into ice Ih together with a 2D layer at 150 K, whereas ice Ic (stacking disordered ice or a mixture of ice Ic and Ih) is formed preferentially onto oxygenated Pt(111) (CO-adsorbed Pt(111)) at 155-160 K (150 K). The ice nucleation and epitaxial growth tend to be hampered on the oxygenated Pt(111) surface via hydrogen bond formation with chemisorbed oxygen. The CO-adsorbed Pt(111) surface is hydrophobic, as evidenced by the fact that water forms a complex with CO during evaporation of crystallites at 160-165 K. A disordered 2D layer remains on pristine Pt(111) up to 175 K, whereas an ordered 2D layer exhibiting the (√3 ×√3)R30° structure formed on oxygenated Pt(111) up to 200 K.

Hexagonal Monolayer Ice without Shared Edges

When adsorbed on solids, water molecules are usually arranged into a honeycomb hydrogen-bond network. Here we report the discovery of a novel monolayer ice built exclusively from water hexamers but without shared edges, distinct from all conventional ice phases. Water grown on graphite crystalizes into a robust monolayer ice after annealing, attaining an exceedingly high density of 0.134  Å^{-2}. Unlike chemisorbed ice on metal surfaces, the ice monolayer can translate and rotate on graphite terraces and grow across steps, confirming its two-dimensional nature. First-principles calculations identify the monolayer ice structure as a robust self-assembly of closely packed water hexamers without edge sharing, whose stability is maintained by maximizing the number of intralayer hydrogen bonds on inert surfaces.

A hypothesis concerning callose

Background Concept: Certain proteins and the glucose monomer have spacing of their carbonyl oxygen atoms that match the spacing of the oxygen atoms of hexagonal ice. This opens the possibility that a sequence of linked glucose residues may have a sequence of equally spaced carbonyl oxygen atoms. Hypothesis: Callose In plants is a duality consisting of the callose itself and a layer of ordered water whose oxygen atoms are hydrogen bonded to the carbonyl oxygen atoms in the callose. The atomic basis of the hypothesis is that the 1-3 linkage between glucose residues in callose results in equally spaced carbonyl oxygen atoms within and between residues. Properties of Callose/Ordered Water: The physical properties of the duality are the properties of callose itself: 1) it is immobile, 2) it can be created and dissolved, 3) it can exist at a submicrometer to micrometers space scale. The electrical properties of ordered water in a botanical platform are not known at the present time. They can be derived only from limited data in non biological platforms and inferences from the electrical properties of ice. These properties are 1) proton movement is governed by the Grotthuss mechanism, 2) there is insignificant movement of non-protonic ions and larger molecules through the ordered water, 3) proton movement is isotropic. Proposed Functionality of Callose/Ordered Water: Known locations of callose were examined theoretically to determine the functionality of a callose/ordered water duality. These locations were sieve plate pores, plasmodesmata and pollen tubes, stomatal guard cells, companion cell/sieve tube complex and micro and megasporocytes. Protonic Circuits: In a botanical context, protonic circuits at a single cell and supracellular level take the form of a proton microloop wherein callose/ordered water is one component in the loop. These circuits use both the enhanced proton mobility and the ion blocking ability of ordered water.

Bond Dissociation Triggering Molecular Disorder in Amorphous H2O

We developed a system to deposit H₂O molecules onto ultrathin silicon nitride substrates in situ using time-resolved transmission electron diffraction apparatus and performed ultrafast time-resolved electron diffraction measurements in the noncrystalline (amorphous) H₂O under near-ultraviolet photoexcitation. The observed dynamics directly represent O-H bond dissociation via multiphoton absorption and charge transfer, which trigger ionization and intermolecular disorder in the amorphous H₂O. Our results illustrate the intriguing nature of light-matter and matter-matter interactions in H₂O molecules.

Crystallization kinetics of water on graphite

The nucleation and growth of water crystallites on a graphite substrate are discussed in terms of the initial film thickness, deposition temperature, and effects of adspecies.

Following a Chemical Reaction on the Millisecond Time Scale by Simultaneous X-ray and UV/Vis Spectroscopy

An innovative approach aimed at disclosing the mechanism of chemical reactions occurring in solution on the millisecond time scale is presented. Time-resolved energy dispersive X-ray absorption and UV/vis spectroscopies with millisecond resolution are used simultaneously to directly follow the evolution of both the oxidation state and the local structure of the metal center in an iron complex. Two redox reactions are studied, the former involving the transformation of Fe^II into two subsequent Fe^III species and the latter involving the more complex Fe^II-Fe^III-Fe^IV-Fe^III sequence. The structural modifications occurring around the iron center are correlated to the reaction mechanisms. This combined approach has the potential to provide unique insights into reaction mechanisms in the liquid phase and represents a new powerful tool to characterize short-lived intermediates that are silent to common spectroscopic techniques.

Shaped cathodes for the production of ultra-short multi-electron pulses

An electrostatic electron source design capable of producing sub-20 femtoseconds (rms) multi-electron pulses is presented. The photoelectron gun concept builds upon geometrical electric field enhancement at the cathode surface. Particle tracer simulations indicate the generation of extremely short bunches even beyond 40 cm of propagation. Comparisons with compact electron sources commonly used for femtosecond electron diffraction are made.

Active control of bright electron beams with RF optics for femtosecond microscopy

A frontier challenge in implementing femtosecond electron microscopy is to gain precise optical control of intense beams to mitigate collective space charge effects for significantly improving the throughput. Here, we explore the flexible uses of an RF cavity as a longitudinal lens in a high-intensity beam column for condensing the electron beams both temporally and spectrally, relevant to the design of ultrafast electron microscopy. Through the introduction of a novel atomic grating approach for characterization of electron bunch phase space and control optics, we elucidate the principles for predicting and controlling the phase space dynamics to reach optimal compressions at various electron densities and generating conditions. We provide strategies to identify high-brightness modes, achieving ∼100 fs and ∼1 eV resolutions with 10⁶ electrons per bunch, and establish the scaling of performance for different bunch charges. These results benchmark the sensitivity and resolution from the fundamental beam brightness perspective and also validate the adaptive optics concept to enable delicate control of the density-dependent phase space structures to optimize the performance, including delivering ultrashort, monochromatic, high-dose, or coherent electron bunches.

From structure to structural dynamics: Ahmed Zewail's legacy

In this brief tribute to Ahmed Zewail, we highlight and place in the historical context, several of the major achievements that he and his colleagues have made in Femtochemistry (of which he was the principal instigator) and his introduction of ultrafast electron scattering, diffraction, microscopy and spectroscopy. By achieving a sub-picosecond temporal resolution, coupled with a picometer spatial resolution, he revolutionised our understanding of the corpus of chemical, physical, biological and materials science systems.

Compression of high-density 0.16 pC electron bunches through high field gradients for ultrafast single shot electron diffraction: The Compact RF Gun

We present an RF gun design for single shot ultrafast electron diffraction experiments that can produce sub-100 fs high-charge electron bunches in the 130 keV energy range. Our simulations show that our proposed half-cell RF cavity is capable of producing 137 keV, 27 fs rms (60 fs FWHM), 10⁶ electron bunches with an rms spot size of 276 μm and a transverse coherence length of 2.0 nm. The required operation power is 9.2 kW, significantly lower than conventional rf cavity designs and a key design feature. This electron source further relies on high electric field gradients at the cathode to simultaneously accelerate and compress the electron bunch to open up new space-time resolution domains for atomically resolved dynamics.

Electrically Modulated Localized Surface Plasmon around Self-Assembled-Monolayer-Covered Nanoparticles

This article reports the observation of electrical modulation of localized surface plasmon around self-assembled monolayer (SAM)-modified gold nanoparticles and the establishment of a new spectroscopy technique, that is, dynamic electro-optical spectroscopy (DEOS). The gold nanoparticles are deposited onto a transparent conductive substrate, and an electrical bias applied on the conductive substrate can cause shift of resonance plasmon response, where the direction of peak shift is related to the polarity of applied bias. The peak shift observed at 2.4 V is approximately ten times larger than those reported in previous work. It is postulated that significant peak shift is the result of reorientation of adsorbed water on electrode, which can change local dielectric environment of nanoparticles. An energy barrier is identified when adsorbed water molecules are turned from oxygen-down to oxygen-up. Frequency-dependent peak shifts on surface-modified gold nanoparticles show that reorientation is a fast reversible process with rich dynamics.

Reflections on the value of electron microscopy in the study of heterogeneous catalysts

Electron microscopy (EM) is arguably the single most powerful method of characterizing heterogeneous catalysts. Irrespective of whether they are bulk and multiphasic, or monophasic and monocrystalline, or nanocluster and even single-atom and on a support, their structures in atomic detail can be visualized in two or three dimensions, thanks to high-resolution instruments, with sub-Ångstrom spatial resolutions. Their topography, tomography, phase-purity, composition, as well as the bonding, and valence-states of their constituent atoms and ions and, in favourable circumstances, the short-range and long-range atomic order and dynamics of the catalytically active sites, can all be retrieved by the panoply of variants of modern EM. The latter embrace electron crystallography, rotation and precession electron diffraction, X-ray emission and high-resolution electron energy-loss spectra (EELS). Aberration-corrected (AC) transmission (TEM) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) have led to a revolution in structure determination. Environmental EM is already playing an increasing role in catalyst characterization, and new advances, involving special cells for the study of solid catalysts in contact with liquid reactants, have recently been deployed.

Nonresonant electronic transitions induced by vibrational motion in light-induced potentials

We find a new mechanism of electronic population inversion using strong femtosecond pulses, where the transfer is mediated by vibrational motion on a light-induced potential. The process can be achieved with a single pulse tuning its frequency to the red of the Franck-Condon window. We show the determinant role that the gradient of the transition dipole moment can play on the dynamics, and extend the method to multiphoton processes with odd number of pulses. As an example, we show how the scheme can be applied to population inversion in Na₂.

Complete Wetting of Pt(111) by Nanoscale Liquid Water Films

The melting and wetting of nanoscale crystalline ice films on Pt(111) that are transiently heated above the melting point in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) using nanosecond laser pulses are studied with infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy and Kr temperature-programmed desorption. The as-grown crystalline ice films consist of nanoscale ice crystallites embedded in a hydrophobic water monolayer. Upon heating, these crystallites melt to form nanoscale droplets of liquid water. Rapid cooling after each pulse quenches the films, allowing them to be interrogated with UHV surface science techniques. With each successive heat pulse, these liquid drops spread across the surface until it is entirely covered with a multilayer water film. These results, which show that nanoscale water films completely wet Pt(111), are in contrast to molecular dynamics simulations predicting partial wetting of water drops on a hydrophobic water monolayer. The results provide valuable insights into the wetting characteristics of nanoscale water films on a clean, well-characterized, single-crystal surface.

Opportunities and challenges in liquid cell electron microscopy

Transmission electron microscopy offers structural and compositional information with atomic resolution, but its use is restricted to thin, solid samples. Liquid samples, particularly those involving water, have been challenging because of the need to form a thin liquid layer that is stable within the microscope vacuum. Liquid cell electron microscopy is a developing technique that allows us to apply the powerful capabilities of the electron microscope to imaging and analysis of liquid specimens. We describe its impact in materials science and biology. We discuss how its applications have expanded via improvements in equipment and experimental techniques, enabling new capabilities and stimuli for samples in liquids, and offering the potential to solve grand challenge problems.

Realizing Ultrafast Electron Pulse Self-Compression by Femtosecond Pulse Shaping Technique

Uncorrelated position and velocity distribution of the electron bunch at the photocathode from the residual energy greatly limit the transverse coherent length and the recompression ability. Here we first propose a femtosecond pulse-shaping method to realize the electron pulse self-compression in ultrafast electron diffraction system based on a point-to-point space-charge model. The positively chirped femtosecond laser pulse can correspondingly create the positively chirped electron bunch at the photocathode (such as metal-insulator heterojunction), and such a shaped electron pulse can realize the self-compression in the subsequent propagation process. The greatest advantage for our proposed scheme is that no additional components are introduced into the ultrafast electron diffraction system, which therefore does not affect the electron bunch shape. More importantly, this scheme can break the limitation that the electron pulse via postphotocathode static compression schemes is not shorter than the excitation laser pulse due to the uncorrelated position and velocity distribution of the initial electron bunch.

Spot profile analysis and lifetime mapping in ultrafast electron diffraction: Lattice excitation of self-organized Ge nanostructures on Si(001)

Ultrafast high energy electron diffraction in reflection geometry is employed to study the structural dynamics of self-organized Germanium hut-, dome-, and relaxed clusters on Si(001) upon femtosecond laser excitation. Utilizing the difference in size and strain state the response of hut- and dome clusters can be distinguished by a transient spot profile analysis. Surface diffraction from {105}-type facets provide exclusive information on hut clusters. A pixel-by-pixel analysis of the dynamics of the entire diffraction pattern gives time constants of 40, 160, and 390 ps, which are assigned to the cooling time constants for hut-, dome-, and relaxed clusters.

Selective growth of ZnO nanorods on hydrophobic Si nanorod arrays

In this paper we describe the selective growth of ZnO nanorods (NRs) on top of hydrophobic Si NR arrays. The periodic Si NR arrays, prepared through electroless chemical etching and HF treatment, functioned as hydrophobic substrates. Droplets containing ZnO seeds could be positioned on the Si NR arrays, causing the ZnO seeds to deposit selectively upon them, with n-ZnO NR/p-Si NR array heterojunctions ultimately forming after hydrothermal growth of ZnO NRs. Because of compensation for the difference in refractive index between air and the Si substrate, the n-ZnO NR/p-Si NR arrays exhibited excellent absorption ability in the visible range. Devices based on these n-ZnO NR/p-Si NR array heterojunctions displayed not only rectifying behavior but also photovoltaic effects when illuminated with UV light. The low temperature and low cost of this fabrication process suggest that the selective growth of n-ZnO NRs on p-Si NR arrays might allow such structures to have diverse applications in optoelectronics.

Diffraction of quantum dots reveals nanoscale ultrafast energy localization

Unlike in bulk materials, energy transport in low-dimensional and nanoscale systems may be governed by a coherent "ballistic" behavior of lattice vibrations, the phonons. If dominant, such behavior would determine the mechanism for transport and relaxation in various energy-conversion applications. In order to study this coherent limit, both the spatial and temporal resolutions must be sufficient for the length-time scales involved. Here, we report observation of the lattice dynamics in nanoscale quantum dots of gallium arsenide using ultrafast electron diffraction. By varying the dot size from h = 11 to 46 nm, the length scale effect was examined, together with the temporal change. When the dot size is smaller than the inelastic phonon mean-free path, the energy remains localized in high-energy acoustic modes that travel coherently within the dot. As the dot size increases, an energy dissipation toward low-energy phonons takes place, and the transport becomes diffusive. Because ultrafast diffraction provides the atomic-scale resolution and a sufficiently high time resolution, other nanostructured materials can be studied similarly to elucidate the nature of dynamical energy localization.

Fluid flow and particle dynamics inside an evaporating droplet containing live bacteria displaying chemotaxis

Evaporation-induced particle deposition patterns like coffee rings provide easy visual identification that is beneficial for developing inexpensive and simple diagnostic devices for detecting pathogens. In this study, the effect of chemotaxis on such pattern formation has been realized experimentally in drying droplets of bacterial suspensions. We have investigated the velocity field, concentration profile, and deposition pattern in the evaporating droplet of Escherichia coli suspension in the presence and absence of nutrients. Flow visualization experiments using particle image velocimetry (PIV) were carried out with E. coli bacteria as biological tracer particles. Experiments were conducted for suspensions of motile (live) as well as nonmotile (dead) bacteria. In the absence of any nutrient gradient like sugar on the substrate, both types of bacterial suspension showed two symmetric convection cells and a ring like deposition of particles after complete evaporation. Interestingly, the droplet containing live bacterial suspension showed a different velocity field when the sugar was placed at the base of the droplet. This can be attributed to the chemoattractant nature of the sugar, which induced chemotaxis among live bacteria targeted toward the nutrient site. Deposition of the suspended bacteria was also displaced toward the nutrient site as the evaporation proceeded. Our experiments demonstrate that both velocity fields and concentration patterns can be altered by chemotaxis to modify the pattern formation in evaporating droplet containing live bacteria. These results highlight the role of bacterial chemotaxis in modifying coffee ring patterns.

High quality single shot ultrafast MeV electron diffraction from a photocathode radio-frequency gun

A compact ultrafast electron diffractometer, consisting of an s-band 1.6 cell photocathode radio-frequency gun, a multi-function changeable sample chamber, and a sensitive relativistic electron detector, was built at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. High-quality single-shot transmission electron diffraction patterns have been recorded by scattering 2.5 MeV electrons off single crystalline gold and polycrystalline aluminum samples. The high quality diffraction pattern indicates an excellent spatial resolution, with the ratio of the diffraction ring radius over the ring rms width beyond 10. The electron pulse width is estimated to be about 300 fs. The high temporal and spatial resolution may open new opportunities in various areas of sciences.

Probing ultrafast temperature changes of aqueous solutions with coherent terahertz pulses

We introduce an infrared pump-terahertz probe technique to measure the thermalization dynamics of aqueous solutions with a time resolution <200  fs. This technique makes use of the sensitivity of the terahertz absorption to the temperature of the hydrogen bond network. The thermalization dynamics of different aqueous solutions are measured and compared to the dynamics inferred from ultrafast infrared pump-infrared probe measurements on the intramolecular stretch vibration of water. This technique can shed new light on important aspects of energy transfer and heat dynamics and is applicable to a wide range of systems.

Inhibited phase behavior of gas hydrates in graphene oxide: influences of surface and geometric constraints

Structural changes of water confined in graphene oxide to gas hydrates were investigated using low temperature XRD. It was revealed that the phase equilibrium points of gas hydrates strongly inhibited due to the surrounding nano-sized voids and the hydrophilic surface of graphene oxide.

Extent and relevance of stacking disorder in "ice I(c)"

A solid water phase commonly known as "cubic ice" or "ice I(c)" is frequently encountered in various transitions between the solid, liquid, and gaseous phases of the water substance. It may form, e.g., by water freezing or vapor deposition in the Earth's atmosphere or in extraterrestrial environments, and plays a central role in various cryopreservation techniques; its formation is observed over a wide temperature range from about 120 K up to the melting point of ice. There was multiple and compelling evidence in the past that this phase is not truly cubic but composed of disordered cubic and hexagonal stacking sequences. The complexity of the stacking disorder, however, appears to have been largely overlooked in most of the literature. By analyzing neutron diffraction data with our stacking-disorder model, we show that correlations between next-nearest layers are clearly developed, leading to marked deviations from a simple random stacking in almost all investigated cases. We follow the evolution of the stacking disorder as a function of time and temperature at conditions relevant to atmospheric processes; a continuous transformation toward normal hexagonal ice is observed. We establish a quantitative link between the crystallite size established by diffraction and electron microscopic images of the material; the crystallite size evolves from several nanometers into the micrometer range with progressive annealing. The crystallites are isometric with markedly rough surfaces parallel to the stacking direction, which has implications for atmospheric sciences.