Dear community,
I started to work with new nano structures that or attached to larger, but still nanosized carbon particles. I have it present in powder form and would like to look at the particles in TEM.
Usually, I would dropcast a solution of my diluted NP onto my grid, but my new material is very unstable and the nano structure on the carbon quickly dissolve into any solvent, polar and apolar.
is there a way to deposit the particles on grid, without them being in solution?
thanks for your help!
That's a good question. Once I used a simple way: just put some nano-dust onto the face surface of a formvar-coated grid, then shook it off to remove the excess (some particles still were attached), put this grid into the holder (face up) and coated it with a clean formvar-coated grid (face down, trying to match the holes), and then locked the holder and installed it into a TEM. That was working well. It should be working for carbon-coated grids too.
Good luck!
That's a good question. Once I used a simple way: just put some nano-dust onto the face surface of a formvar-coated grid, then shook it off to remove the excess (some particles still were attached), put this grid into the holder (face up) and coated it with a clean formvar-coated grid (face down, trying to match the holes), and then locked the holder and installed it into a TEM. That was working well. It should be working for carbon-coated grids too.
Good luck!
Have you tried lyophilization? Are these structures stable after such freeze-drying? Lyophilization is known to cause very little perturbance and if it works you would get the desired powder form.
Nabodita Sinha I have not, since the particles are already in powder form. I just cannot place them in solution. My issue lies more with the deposition of the dried particles onto the grid such that they remain there stable
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