<i>In Situ</i> Gas-Phase 4D-STEM for Strain Mapping during Hydride Formation in Palladium Nanocubes.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 40129285.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5c00702 and PMC identifier 11969644.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The uptake and release of hydrogen are key parameters for hydrogen storage materials. Lattice strain offers a powerful way to tune hydride formation in metal nanoparticles. However, the role of strain on hydride formation is difficult to assess on a single nanoparticle level due to the lack of <i>in situ</i> characterization tools to quantify strain in the presence of a gas. Here, we achieve a dynamic, <i>in situ</i> study on the reversible hydride formation in individual palladium nanocubes by applying 4D scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D-STEM) in the presence of 1 bar H<sub>2</sub> and quantitatively assess the lattice strain with subnanometer resolution. Upon hydride formation at 125 °C, the Pd lattice expands by ∼3.1% and relaxes back upon hydrogen desorption at 200 °C. Our <i>in situ</i> 4D-STEM approach is relevant to a wide range of nanoparticle systems and applications, including catalyst- and gas-sensing materials.