{"id":{"repo_id":"mcmaster","oai_identifier":"oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/23855"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mcmaster/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/23855","repository":{"repo_id":"mcmaster","name":"McMaster University","base_url":"https://macsphere.mcmaster.ca/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Microcell fabrication and resolution enhancement for in situ liquid cell electron microscopy","abstract":"Liquid cell electron microscopy has been proven to provide high spatial and temporal resolution for studying liquid layers and the solid-liquid interface at the micro and nano scale. The in situ environment allows for spatial and spectral characterization and quantification of the dynamics and kinetics involved with structural and chemical changes of nanostructures, which has seen application is fields of materials science, electrochemistry, corrosion, biomaterials, and nanophysics. The rapid growth of in situ liquid cell electron microscopy has motivated the fabrication of a custom liquid cell for improved control over the experimental conditions, including cell dimensions and materials. In this work, the process flow and micro-fabrication of a custom liquid cell system are proposed and executed, with proof of operation through the in situ imaging of suspended gold nanoparticles and electrochemical characterization. The in situ TEM system is improved upon by forming 1μm diameter holes through the viewing membranes, removing the background noise contribution from imaging electrons through the windows. This allows for high resolution liquid cell imaging. This improved system is used to study the oxidative etching conditions for palladium nanocrystals, which are commonly used as catalysis for hydrogen fuel cells. The dendritic etching is studied through native etching under exposure to hydrochloric acid without the presence of oxidizing species, followed by the radiolytic generation of oxidizing radicals via the microscope electron beam, and finally by the application of electrical biasing.","abstract_html":"Liquid cell electron microscopy has been proven to provide high spatial and temporal resolution for studying liquid layers and the solid-liquid interface at the micro and nano scale. The in situ environment allows for spatial and spectral characterization and quantification of the dynamics and kinetics involved with structural and chemical changes of nanostructures, which has seen application is fields of materials science, electrochemistry, corrosion, biomaterials, and nanophysics. The rapid growth of in situ liquid cell electron microscopy has motivated the fabrication of a custom liquid cell for improved control over the experimental conditions, including cell dimensions and materials. In this work, the process flow and micro-fabrication of a custom liquid cell system are proposed and executed, with proof of operation through the in situ imaging of suspended gold nanoparticles and electrochemical characterization. The in situ TEM system is improved upon by forming 1μm diameter holes through the viewing membranes, removing the background noise contribution from imaging electrons through the windows. This allows for high resolution liquid cell imaging. This improved system is used to study the oxidative etching conditions for palladium nanocrystals, which are commonly used as catalysis for hydrogen fuel cells. The dendritic etching is studied through native etching under exposure to hydrochloric acid without the presence of oxidizing species, followed by the radiolytic generation of oxidizing radicals via the microscope electron beam, and finally by the application of electrical biasing.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Daigle, Eric"],"institution":null,"degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Materials Engineering","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Botton, Gianluigi","Soleymani, Leyla"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019","date_published":"2019","updated_at":"2026-08-21T16:46:30Z","subjects":["in situ","electron microscopy"],"languages":["en"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/11375/23855","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"source_record":{"url":"https://macsphere.mcmaster.ca/server/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=dim&identifier=oai%3Amacsphere.mcmaster.ca%3A11375%2F23855","prefix":"dim"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Botton, Gianluigi","Soleymani, Leyla"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Materials Engineering"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Daigle, Eric"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2019-02-01T18:55:22Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2019-02-01T18:55:22Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2019"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["in situ","electron microscopy"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/11375/23855"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Liquid cell electron microscopy has been proven to provide high spatial and temporal resolution for studying liquid layers and the solid-liquid interface at the micro and nano scale. The in situ environment allows for spatial and spectral characterization and quantification of the dynamics and kinetics involved with structural and chemical changes of nanostructures, which has seen application is fields of materials science, electrochemistry, corrosion, biomaterials, and nanophysics. The rapid growth of in situ liquid cell electron microscopy has motivated the fabrication of a custom liquid cell for improved control over the experimental conditions, including cell dimensions and materials. In this work, the process flow and micro-fabrication of a custom liquid cell system are proposed and executed, with proof of operation through the in situ imaging of suspended gold nanoparticles and electrochemical characterization. The in situ TEM system is improved upon by forming 1μm diameter holes through the viewing membranes, removing the background noise contribution from imaging electrons through the windows. This allows for high resolution liquid cell imaging. This improved system is used to study the oxidative etching conditions for palladium nanocrystals, which are commonly used as catalysis for hydrogen fuel cells. The dendritic etching is studied through native etching under exposure to hydrochloric acid without the presence of oxidizing species, followed by the radiolytic generation of oxidizing radicals via the microscope electron beam, and finally by the application of electrical biasing."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Applied Science (MASc)"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Microcell fabrication and resolution enhancement for in situ liquid cell electron microscopy"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Botton, Gianluigi","Soleymani, Leyla"],"dc:contributor.department":["Materials Engineering"],"dc:creator":["Daigle, Eric"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2019-02-01T18:55:22Z"],"dc:date.available":["2019-02-01T18:55:22Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2019"],"dc:description.abstract":["Liquid cell electron microscopy has been proven to provide high spatial and temporal resolution for studying liquid layers and the solid-liquid interface at the micro and nano scale. The in situ environment allows for spatial and spectral characterization and quantification of the dynamics and kinetics involved with structural and chemical changes of nanostructures, which has seen application is fields of materials science, electrochemistry, corrosion, biomaterials, and nanophysics. The rapid growth of in situ liquid cell electron microscopy has motivated the fabrication of a custom liquid cell for improved control over the experimental conditions, including cell dimensions and materials. In this work, the process flow and micro-fabrication of a custom liquid cell system are proposed and executed, with proof of operation through the in situ imaging of suspended gold nanoparticles and electrochemical characterization. The in situ TEM system is improved upon by forming 1μm diameter holes through the viewing membranes, removing the background noise contribution from imaging electrons through the windows. This allows for high resolution liquid cell imaging. This improved system is used to study the oxidative etching conditions for palladium nanocrystals, which are commonly used as catalysis for hydrogen fuel cells. The dendritic etching is studied through native etching under exposure to hydrochloric acid without the presence of oxidizing species, followed by the radiolytic generation of oxidizing radicals via the microscope electron beam, and finally by the application of electrical biasing."],"dc:description.degree":["Master of Applied Science (MASc)"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/11375/23855"],"dc:language.iso":["en"],"dc:subject":["in situ","electron microscopy"],"dc:title":["Microcell fabrication and resolution enhancement for in situ liquid cell electron microscopy"],"dc:type":["Thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-08-21T16:46:30Z"}