In-situ transmission electron microscopy reveals dynamics of nanostructures

In recent years, inorganic nanostructures are in a leading role in the emerging fields of nanotechnology and nanoscience. With highly tunable dimensions, morphologies, and properties, inorganic nanostructures are playing an increasingly crucial role in modern catalysis, energy storage/conversion, and beyond. The mechanistic understanding of how these nanostructures are formed and behave is vital for the achievement of precisely tailored structure with desired properties for various applications. As such, in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has attracted growing interests to probe the nanostructure dynamics in real-time at high spatial (down to atomic scale), temporal (within a mini-second), and energy (down to 30 meV) resolutions, providing invaluable insights to unravel the mechanism behind. In this paper, we review the advances in investigation of nanostructure dynamics with in situ TEM. We first introduce the basics of liquid/gas cell, the key component to differentiate an in-situ TEM from a conventional TEM. We then elaborate the in-situ TEM explorations in nucleation, growth, diffusion, coalescence, and self-assembly of nanoparticles, followed by its applications in other representative research fields, particularly the catalysis and energy storage/conversion. Finally, we summarize this review and provide thoughts on the remaining challenges and evolutionary trends of in situ TEM. This review aims to highlight in situ TEM as a dynamic research bridge connecting the performance and structure of nanostructures, which has important guiding significance for reasonable design and synthesis of functional nanomaterials for broad applications in the future.