Material Discrimination in Nanoparticle Hetero‐Aggregates by Analysis of Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy Images

Abstract

AbstractHetero‐contacts are interfaces between different materials at the nanoscale leading to novel functional properties. In hetero‐aggregates, primary particles of at least two different materials are mixed at primary particle or cluster level. Double flame spray pyrolysis (DFSP) is a versatile technique for the controlled synthesis of such materials. Characterization of hetero‐aggregates by scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) requires acquisition and evaluation of many aggregate images in order to derive statistically significant results. Usually, STEM energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDXS) is used to acquire elemental maps providing the material distribution of the primary particles within hetero‐aggregates. However, the acquisition of a single EDXS map takes up to several minutes. For this reason, determination of material types of primary particles from the intensity in high‐angle annular dark field STEM images alone is desirable. These images can be acquired within a couple of seconds. In the present work, a method is suggested which allows for achieving this objective. It can be applied to distinguish materials with a significant difference in their atomic number and hence sufficient material contrast in the STEM images.