Advanced TEM studies applied to nanomaterials: From growth of complex systems to heterogeneous catalysts

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is a powerful technique that provides combined morphological, chemical and crystallographic information on the structure of nanomaterials, down to the atomic scale (1). This talk will span over several advanced TEM techniques and illustrate how they address specific challenges across different fields. I will first show how the development of in-situ TEM now makes it possible to study phenomena in their native environment, e.g. in liquid media, therefore allowing to follow the nucleation and growth of complex materials under representative conditions (2,3). In addition, I will demonstrate how we can use the electron beam itself to trigger the nucleation and growth, in the specific case of the crystallization of nanozeolites. (4). Next, I will turn to sub-Å resolution imaging with aberration-corrected TEM to characterize single-atom catalysts (SACs) and demonstrate how advanced data processing (5) can statistically reveal specific spatial organization of SACs on a judiciously designed oxide support (6), with potential implications for heterogeneous catalysis. Throughout the talk, I will also present results obtained with X-ray scattering and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), highlighting the need to combine TEM with such techniques to overcome its inherent limitation: the local nature of the information it provides. 

(1) Williams, D. B.; Carter, C. B. Transmission Electron Microscopy: A Textbook for Materials Science. Transmission Electron Microscopy: A Textbook for Materials Science 2009, 1–760. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-76501-3/COVER 

(2) Sidhoum, C.; Constantin, D.; Ihiawakrim, D.; Lenertz, M.; Bizien, T.; Sanchez, C.; Ersen, O. Shedding Light on the Birth of Hybrid Perovskites: A Correlative Study by In Situ Electron Microscopy and Synchrotron-Based X-Ray Scattering. Chemistry of Materials 2023, 35 (19), 7943–7956. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.3c01167 

(3) Sidhoum, C.; Ihiawakrim, D.; Haouas, M.; Constantin, D.; Schosseler, F.; Odziomek, M.; Vertchik, K.; Leforestier, A.; Sanchez, C.; Ersen, O. Chimie-Douce Route to Tungsten Oxide Hydrate: Comprehensive Insight into the Formation Mechanism by Liquid-Phase Electron Microscopy Combined with Complementary Techniques. Chemistry of Materials 2025, 37 (15), 5454–5465. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.4c03003 

(4) Sidhoum, C.; Amedlous, A.; Sanchez, C.; Ersen, O.; Mintova, S. Ultra‐Fast Crystallization of Nanozeolite via Hydroxyl Radicals Generated by Electron‐Beam‐Induced Radiolysis. Small Science 2025, 5 (7). https://doi.org/10.1002/smsc.202500089 

(5) Berg, S.; Kutra, D.; Kroeger, T.; Straehle, C. N.; Kausler, B. X.; Haubold, C.; Schiegg, M.; Ales, J.; Beier, T.; Rudy, M.; Eren, K.; Cervantes, J. I.; Xu, B.; Beuttenmueller, F.; Wolny, A.; Zhang, C.; Koethe, U.; Hamprecht, F. A.; Kreshuk, A. Ilastik: Interactive Machine Learning for (Bio)Image Analysis. Nat. Methods 2019, 16 (12), 1226–1232. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-019-0582-9 

(6) Sidhoum, C.; Cao, W.; Lin, J.-H.; Richter, N.; Copéret, C. Site-Specific Anchoring and Spectral Signatures of Single Atoms, Pairs and Chains for Cs Supported on γ-Al2O3 from Atomic-Scale Imaging and 133Cs NMR. September 28, 2026. https://doi.org/10.26434/chemrxiv.15009512/v1