Understanding, Mimicking, and Mitigating Radiolytic Damage to Polymers in Liquid Phase Transmission Electron Microscopy.

ABSTRACT: Advances in liquid phase transmission electron microscopy (LP-TEM) have enabled the monitoring of polymer dynamics in solution at the nanoscale, but radiolytic damage during LP-TEM imaging limits its routine use in polymer science. This study focuses on understanding, mimicking, and mitigating radiolytic damage observed in functional polymers in LP-TEM. It is quantitatively demonstrated how polymer damage occurs across all conceivable (LP-)TEM environments, and the key characteristics and differences between polymer degradation in water vapor and liquid water are elucidated. Importantly, it is shown that the hydroxyl radical-rich environment in LP-TEM can be approximated by UV light irradiation in the presence of hydrogen peroxide, allowing the use of bulk techniques to probe damage at the

SUBMITTER: Wu H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11681318 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature