Time-resolved Brownian tomography of single nanocrystals in liquid during oxidative etching
Colloidal nanocrystals inherently undergo structural changes during chemical reactions. The robust structure-property relationships, originating from their nanoscale dimensions, underscore the significance of comprehending the dynamic structural behavior of nanocrystals in reactive chemical media. Moreover, the complexity and heterogeneity inherent in their atomic structures require tracking of structural transitions in individual nanocrystals at three-dimensional (3D) atomic resolution. In this study, we introduce the method of time-resolved Brownian tomography to investigate the temporal evolution of the 3D atomic structures of individual nanocrystals in solution. The methodology is applied to examine the atomic-level structural transformations of Pt nanocrystals during oxidative etching. The time-resolved 3D atomic maps reveal the structural evolution of dissolving Pt nanocrystals, transitioning from a crystalline to a disordered structure. Our study demonstrates the emergence of a phase at the nanometer length scale that has received less attention in bulk thermodynamics.
Authors
- Dohun Kang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5965-6432)
- Sungin Kim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9107-0781)
- Cyril F. Reboul (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6258-2697)
- Cong T. S. Van
- Taeghwan Hyeon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5959-6257)
- Hoje Chun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0624-536X)
- Byungchan Han (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2325-6733)
- Hans Elmlund (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6992-0601)
- Junyoung Heo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4396-5200)
- Sungsu Kang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8220-0345)
- Jinho Rhee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-3499-1071)
- Byung Hyo Kim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4098-0053)
- Peter Ercius (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6762-9976)
- Rubén Meana‐Pañeda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9238-8318)
- Joodeok Kim
- Yunseo Lee
- Won Chul Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8479-0836)
- Jungwon Park (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2927-4331)
- Minyoung Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1327-9130)
- Hyesung Choi
Institutions
- National Institutes of Health (US)
- Seoul National University (KR)
- Soongsil University (KR)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US)
- Yonsei University (KR)
- Hyundai Motor Group (South Korea) (KR)
- Cornell University (US)
- University of Chicago (US)
- National University (SD)
- Institute for Basic Science (KR)
- Advanced Institute of Convergence Technology (KR)
- National University College (PR)
- National Cancer Institute (US)
- Hanyang University (KR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-01-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56476-8
- Citations
- 11
- Primary Topic
- nanoparticles nucleation surface interactions
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 14.31
Funders
- Institute for Basic Science
- Samsung Science and Technology Foundation
- Samsung