Scientists  at Colorado School of Mines used transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atom prove tomography (APT) and Hummingbird Scientific’s correlative TEM/APT tomography sample holder to characterize N-doped carbon nanospheres. They were able to verify the morphology of the spheres, 2D spatial distribution of nitrogen heteroatoms, the chemical distribution of nitrogen functionalities, and the depth dependence of distribution of chemical species. These results illustrate that cross-correlative analysis can provide key elemental, chemical and structural information for development of nano-materials for energy applications.

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Reference:

Chilan Ngo, Margaret A. Fitzgerald, Michael J. Dzara, Matthew B Strand, David R. Diercks, Svitlana Pylypenko, “3D Atomic Understanding of Functionalized Carbon Nanostructures for Energy Applications” ACS Appl. Nano Mater. 2020, 3, 2, 1600-1611