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| Home > Publications database > Can ePDF Detect Water in Silicon Nitride Liquid Cells? |
| Home > Publications database > Can ePDF Detect Water in Silicon Nitride Liquid Cells? |
| Poster (After Call) | FZJ-2026-00511 |
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2025
Abstract: Recent developments in in situ and environmental TEM have significantly advanced our ability to study dynamic processes at the nanoscale. Innovations in liquid and gas cell TEM have enabled real-time imaging of chemical reactions, material transformations, and biological processes under realistic conditions. Many of these processes are inherently heterogeneous and involve precipitation or crystallization. The most straightforward method for detecting early crystallization states in a liquid phase is the analysis of the electron Pair Distribution Function (ePDF).Amorphous silicon nitride is one of the most widely used materials for in situ TEM liquid cells. As a result, the contribution of the membrane signal is inevitably present in the diffraction data of the sample. It is therefore crucial to analyze and understand the contributions of both the Si3N4 membrane and water as a solvent to accurately assign evolving structural features and distinguish them from the signal of the reaction species.Detecting water in the presence of Si3N4 is not a trivial task, as most interatomic distances in their respective Pair Distribution Functions overlap. Consequently, rather than tracing the appearance of additional peaks, we must analyse the distribution of intensities, which are generally less reliable in ePDF due to multiple scattering.Here, we present our results on the ePDF analysis of water-filled Si3N4 chips, demonstrating the information that can be extracted from ePDF data and discussing the limitations of the procedure.
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