Scientific Achievement
- Researchers in the In Situ TEM program revealed multistep growth pathways of covalent organic framework (COF) onion-like nanostructures, including graphitic layer formation, attachment, ring closure, and relaxation
Significance and Impact
- Liquid-cell TEM with temperature control enables the replication of real-world chemical reactions
- Direct imaging of COF nanostructure growth in liquids presents valuable opportunities to develop new strategies for controlling COF crystal morphology, composition, and hierarchical structural evolution
Research Details
- Real-time imaging combined with advanced image analysis uncovers fine details of low-contrast C–N COF nanostructures
Publication Details
Q. Zheng, A. Ren, A. Zagalskaya, H. Mao, D. Lee, C. Yang, K. C Bustillo, L. F Wan, T. A. Pham, J. A Reimer, J. Zhang, Y. Liu, H. Zheng, Journal of American Chemical Society (2024).
Work was performed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and in the Molecular Foundry.
