title: Ptychographic Imaging of Branched Colloidal Nanocrystals Embedded in Free-Standing Thick Polystyrene Films.
abstract: Research on composite materials is facing, among others, the challenging task of incorporating nanocrystals, and their superstructures, in polymer matrices. Electron microscopy can typically image nanometre-scale structures embedded in thin polymer films, but not in films that are micron size thick. Here, X-ray Ptychography was used to visualize, with a resolution of a few tens of nanometers, how CdSe/CdS octapod-shaped nanocrystals self-assemble in polystyrene films of 24 ± 4 μm, providing a unique means for non-destructive investigation of nanoparticles distribution and organization in thick polymer films.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Cristallografia, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, via Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Liberato
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De Caro
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Cristallografia, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, via Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Altamura
authors.affiliation: Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), via Morego 30, IT-16163 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Milena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arciniegas
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Cristallografia, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, via Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Dritan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Siliqi
authors.affiliation: Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), via Morego 30, IT-16163 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Mee R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Cristallografia, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, via Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sibillano
authors.affiliation: Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), via Morego 30, IT-16163 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Liberato
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Manna
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Cristallografia, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, via Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Cinzia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Giannini