Elucidating the Growth of Metal–Organic Nanotubes Combining Isoreticular Synthesis with Liquid-Cell Transmisson Electron Microscopy

Metal–organic
nanotubes (MONTs) are tunable porous 1D materials
that are envisioned to be complementary to carbon nanotubes for anisotropic
applications. To date, characterization of MONTs relies on single
crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) to determine structure and composition.
This requires crystals on the micrometer regime, effectively rendering
bulk 3D materials. By tracking the growth of a MONT as a function
of time with liquid-cell transmisson electron microscopy (LCTEM),
TEM, and SCXRD, it was possible to ascertain that the material in
the bulk phase matches the nanomaterial in terms of molecular structure.
This result allowed for the first measurements of finite bundles of
MONTs on the nanometer scale. By employing in situ LCTEM, a time course of the formation of small bundles of MONTs
could be acquired which provided mechanistic information on MONT formation
which is of utility in reaction optimization and applications development.