Reversible phase transformations between Pb nanocrystals and a viscous liquid-like phase
Zheng,Wenjing;Kang,Jun;Niu,Kaiyang;Ophus,Colin;Chan,Emory M.;Ercius,Peter;Wang,Lin-Wang;Wu,Junqiao;Zheng,Haimei Source: Science Advances,v 10,n 25,June 2024;E-ISSN: 23752548;DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adn6426;Article number: adn6426;Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science
Author affiliation:
School of Energy and Power Engineering,North University of China,Taiyuan;030051,China
Beijing Computational Science Research Center,Beijing;100193,China
Department of Physics,Beijing Normal University,Beijing;100875,China
Materials Sciences Division,Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory,Berkeley;CA;94720,United States
National Center for Electron Microscopy,Molecular Foundry,Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory,Berkeley;CA;94720,United States
The Molecular Foundry,Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory,Berkeley;CA;94720,United States
Institute of Semiconductors,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing;100083,China
Department of Materials Science and Engineering,University of California,Berkeley,Berkeley;CA;94720,United States
Abstract:
Phase transformations have been a prominent topic of study for both fundamental and applied science. Solid-liquid reaction-induced phase transformations can be hard to characterize, and the transformation mechanisms are often not fully understood. Here, we report reversible phase transformations between a metal (Pb) nanocrystal and a viscous liquid-like phase unveiled by in situ liquid cell transmission electron microscopy. The reversible phase transformations are obtained by modulating the electron current density (between 1000 and 3000 electrons Å-2 s-1). The metal-organic viscous liquid-like phase exhibits short-range ordering with a preferred Pb-Pb distance of 0.5 nm. Assisted by density functional theory and molecular dynamics calculations, we show that the viscous liquid-like phase results from the reactions of Pb with the CH3O fragments from the triethylene glycol solution under electron beam irradiation. Such reversible phase transformations may find broad implementations.
