Encapsulation of Metal Nanoparticles by Metal-Organic Framework Imaged with In Situ Liquid Phase Transmission Electron Microscopy.

ABSTRACT: Metal nanoparticle@metal-organic framework (NP@MOF) composites hold promise for potential applications in gas storage, catalysis, sensing, environmental monitoring, and biomedicine. Despite their importance, details of how MOFs encapsulate the NPs to form NP@MOF hybrid nanostructures are largely unexplored. Here, using ultra-low electron-flux in situ liquid phase transmission electron microscopy (LP-TEM), the encapsulation of Au NPs with zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) is visualized. These observations reveal that the speeds at which MOFs nucleate on the NP's surface impact the shell's shape. At low concentrations of MOF precursor, NPs are encapsulated with well-defined single-crystalline MOF shells, while at high concentrations, MOFs tend to nucleate and grow from multiple sites

SUBMITTER: Lin G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12224958 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature