In this paper, we describe the use of liquid cell transmission electron microscopy (LCTEM) for inducing and imaging the formation of spherical micelles from amphiphilic block copolymers. Within the irradiated region of the liquid cell, diblock copolymers were produced which self-assembled, yielding a targeted spherical micellar phase via polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA). Critically, we demonstrate that nanoparticle formation can be visualized in situ and that in the presence of excess monomer, nanoparticle growth occurs to yield sizes and morphologies consistent with standard PISA conditions. Experiments were enabled by employing automated LCTEM sample preparation and by analyzing LCTEM data with multi-object tracking algorithms designed for the detection of low-contrast materials.

中文翻译：

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液态细胞透射电子显微镜观察聚合引发的胶束的自组装

在本文中，我们描述了使用液体细胞透射电子显微镜（LCTEM）来诱导和成像由两亲嵌段共聚物形成的球形胶束。在液室的受辐照区域内，生成了二嵌段共聚物，它们自组装，通过聚合诱导的自组装（PISA）产生目标球形胶束相。至关重要的是，我们证明了纳米颗粒的形成可以在原位可视化，并且在存在过量单体的情况下，纳米颗粒的生长会产生与标准PISA条件一致的尺寸和形貌。通过采用自动LCTEM样品制备以及通过设计用于检测低对比度材料的多对象跟踪算法分析LCTEM数据，可以进行实验。