Atomic-resolution imaging of gold species at organic liquid-solid interfaces

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Sullivan-Allsop, Sam; Clark, Nick; Wang, Wendong; Cai, Rongsheng; Thornley, William; Hopkinson, David G.; Mchugh, James G.; Davies, Ben; Pattisson, Samuel; Dummer, Nicholas F.; Zhang, Rui; Lindley, Matthew; Tainton, Gareth; Harrison, Jack; De Latour, Hugo; Parker, Joseph; Swindell, Joshua; Castanon, Eli G.; Carl, Amy; Lewis, David J.; Martsinovich, Natalia; Allen, Christopher S.; Danaie, Mohsen; Logsdail, Andrew J.; Fal'ko, Vladimir; Hutchings, Graham J.; Summerfield, Alex; Gorbachev, Roman; Haigh, Sarah J.
• 署名单位: University of Manchester; University of Manchester; University of Manchester; Diamond Light Source; Cardiff University; Cardiff University; University of Sheffield; University of Oxford; University of Manchester
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.adw2469
• 发表日期: 2026-04-02
• 页码: 77-82
• 关键词: in-situ; molecular calculations; electron-microscopy; adsorption; catalysts; identification; GROWTH; EELS

摘要

The structure and dynamics of adsorbed atoms (adatoms) at solid-liquid interfaces determine the performance of advanced catalysts, electrochemical devices, molecular separation technologies, and metal extraction from waste streams. However, in situ investigations of atomically dispersed metals in various chemical environments have been prevented by insufficient imaging resolution and solvent incompatibility. In this study, we combined a specimen design that provides atomic resolution in liquid-phase electron microscopy with deep learning-enabled analysis to explore the interactions between gold adatoms, graphite support, and the solvent collectively. We tracked the locations of >10(6) graphite-supported gold adatoms, dimers, and larger clusters in five solvents. Although their initial atomic dispersion was determined by the solvent polarity, fast drying kinetics at low temperature was required for optimizing catalytic performance.