Cao, K, Biskupek, J, Stoppiello, CT et al. (8 more authors) (2020) Atomic mechanism of metal crystal nucleus formation in a single-walled carbon nanotube. Nature Chemistry, 12 (10). pp. 921-928. ISSN 1755-4330
Abstract
Knowing how crystals nucleate at the atomic scale is crucial for understanding, and in turn controlling, the structure and properties of a wide variety of materials. However, because of the scale and highly dynamic nature of nuclei, the formation and early growth of nuclei are very difficult to observe. Here, we have employed single-walled carbon nanotubes as test tubes, and an ‘atomic injector’ coupled with aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy, to enable in situ imaging of the initial steps of nucleation at the atomic scale. With three different metals we observed three main processes prior to heterogeneous nucleation: formation of crystal nuclei directly from an atomic seed (Fe), from a pre-existing amorphous nanocluster (Au) or by coalescence of two separate amorphous sub-nanometre clusters (Re). We demonstrate the roles of the amorphous precursors and the existence of an energy barrier before nuclei formation. In all three cases, crystal nucleus formation occurred through a two-step nucleation mechanism.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2020. This is an author produced version of an article published in Nature Chemistry. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Chemistry (Leeds) > Inorganic Chemistry (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 02 Sep 2020 12:08 |
Last Modified: | 07 May 2021 12:50 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Nature |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/s41557-020-0538-9 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:164917 |