title: Real-Time Observation of Water-Soluble Mineral Precipitation in Aqueous Solution by In Situ High-Resolution Electron Microscopy.
abstract: The precipitation and dissolution of water-soluble minerals in aqueous systems is a familiar process occurring commonly in nature. Understanding mineral nucleation and growth during its precipitation is highly desirable, but past in situ techniques have suffered from limited spatial and temporal resolution. Here, by using in situ graphene liquid cell electron microscopy, mineral nucleation and growth processes are demonstrated in high spatial and temporal resolution. We precipitate the mineral thenardite (Na2SO4) from aqueous solution with electron-beam-induced radiolysis of water. We demonstrate that minerals nucleate with a two-dimensional island structure on the graphene surfaces. We further reveal that mineral grains grow by grain boundary migration and grain rotation. Our findings provide a direct observation of the dynamics of crystal growth from ionic solutions.
authors.affiliation: Kavli Energy NanoScience Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States.
authors.forename: Jong Min
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Yuk
authors.affiliation: Kavli Energy NanoScience Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States.
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Kavli Energy NanoScience Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States.
authors.forename: Jiyoung
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ercius
authors.affiliation: Kavli Energy NanoScience Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States.
authors.forename: A Paul
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Alivisatos
authors.affiliation: Kavli Energy NanoScience Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States.
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zettl
keywords: grain boundary migration; grain rotation; in situ graphene liquid cell electron microscopy; nucleation and growth; water-soluble mineral