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Obtaining 3D Chemical Maps by Energy Filtered Transmission Electron Microscopy Tomography

Energy filtered transmission electron microscopy tomography (EFTEM tomography) can provide three-dimensional (3D) chemical maps of materials at a ...

Institut de Physique et Chimie des Matériaux de Strasbourg (IPCMS)

Magnetic nanowires of CoFe 2O4 were casted inside the channel of multiwall carbon nanotubes by mild chemical synthesis. A detailed investigation of these nanowires was performed using mainly the electron tomography technique; this study provides a complete characterization of their microstructure in terms of the spatial organization and the size distribution of individual particles forming the nanowire as well as its residual porosity. In particular, we have shown that the size of the CoFe 2O4 monocrystalline particles is closely dependent on the location of the particle within the nanotube, i.e., small particles close to the tube tip (5 nm) and bigger particles inside the tube channel (15 nm). As the theoretical critical size for superparamagnetic relaxation in CoFe 2O4 is estimated within the range of 4-9 nm, the size distribution obtained by 3D-TEM agrees with the Mossbauer study that suggests the presence of two different magnetic components inside the nanowire. We have shown also that, by using this preparation method and for this internal diameter of nanotube, the CoFe 2O4 nanowire exhibits a continuous structure along the tube, has a residual porosity of 38%, and can fill the tube at only 50%, parameters which influence in a significant manner the magnetic behavior of this system.

Microstructural investigation of magnetic CoFe2O4 nanowires inside carbon nanotubes by electron tomography.

The porous structure and the periodic array of cavities in ordered mesoporous materials with large, three-dimensionally arranged and interconnected pores is thoroughly described by combining electron tomography, small-angle X-ray diffraction, and nitrogen sorption techniques. We used the ability of the electron tomography to provide local three-dimensional information of a nano-object and compared the results to those of the other characterization techniques which furnish global information. We showed thus that the face-centered cubic (fcc) structure usually assigned to the FDU-12 materials is in fact an intergrowth of cubic and hexagonal close-packing structures. This agrees with small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) modeling, but for the first time a direct visualization of these stacking faults was achieved. Three-dimensional transmission electron microscopy (3D-TEM) provides also a direct and unique evidence of peculiar stacking defects ("z-shifted [111] areas"), as well as an estimate of their density, which have never been reported elsewhere. In addition, interstitial cavities were also observed, revealing the complex defective structure of this material. A direct observation of the nature of the connecting pores was also achieved for the first time, with a resolution limit of 2 nm. Finally, the characteristics of the porous network evidenced by 3D-TEM are used to explain and validate the results obtained by nitrogen sorption experiments.

Ovidiu Ersen

Institut de Physique et Chimie des Matériaux de Strasbourg (IPCMS)

Obtaining 3D Chemical Maps by Energy Filtered Transmission Electron Microscopy Tomography