| Surfaces and interfaces play a critical role in nanoscale materials in nanoparticles, the surface-to-volume ratio is much larger than that of bulk material. For example, nanoparticles can adopt a crystal structure that is not predicted for the bulk material under similar conditions if this new structure produces lower-energy surfaces. The types of surfaces present will, in turn, determine the type of contacts formed between particles. Similarly, the crystal structures observed in small volumes may stabilize certain interfaces which would not be found in bulk material. Nanoparticles and nanoscale materials are already being incorporated in the many applications, but it is still important to understand fully their properties so their behavior can be predicted reliably and their properties utilized fully. The inherently small size of nanoparticles and nanoscale structures makes electron microscopy techniques essential for the analysis of these systems. The TEM provides a number of advantages over other techniques for the study of nanoscale phenomena, not the least of which is the capability of investigating structure, chemistry and bonding of materials at the atomic level. Such resolution is necessary, as the properties of nanoscale materials do depend on variations at this small scale. The present work investigates the role of particle size, chemistry, and morphology on the surfaces and interfaces in a variety of different nanoscale materials. |
