Investigation of Interfacial Radiolysis of Water at Silicon Nitride and Strategies to Minimize Radiolysis by Utilizing Graphene

Liquid phase TEM (LPTEM) is competitive tool to investigate formation mechanism, degradation, and nano-scale surface structure of nanomaterials in colloidal state. However, electron beam induced radiolysis of liquid damages the original structure of nanomaterials in colloidal state, which hinders stable TEM imaging. Many efforts have been made to reduce radiolysis effect during LPTEM observation, such as TEM imaging with low electron dose rate and some additives to scavenge radiolysis products. However, radiolysis of adsorbed water at the interface of silicon nitride, which is the window materials for the MEMS based liquid cell, remains less studied. Here, we investigate the radiolysis effect of adsorbed water by observing Pd nanocube dissolution process, and the strategies to mitigate interfacial radiolysis by using graphene which is known to be good electron compensator.