Improved gas holder for in-situ TEM studies

In-situ TEM studies using an environmental cell (nanoreactor) play an important role in not just giving an understanding the corrosion mechanisms at a sub-micron scale, but also on the influence of heat-treatment on the microstructural change and corrosion behaviour of these alloys. One of the main requirements of for these in-situ TEM studies is the leak tightness of the nanoreactor. This is achieved by gluing the top and the bottom chips together with water glass or commercially available cyanoacrylate compounds. The drawback of this method is the chips are inseparable after the in-situ TEM study, making it impossible to carry out any further investigations on the same specimen. To overcome this drawback, we worked on upgrading the nanoreactor by redesigning the TEM holder to avoid gluing. This made it possible not only to assemble the nanoreactors in a more reliable way but also separate the two halves after the in-situ TEM study. This has opened up opportunities to carry out investigations like tomography, AFM measurements and other surface characterization studies on the same specimen, adding more to the mechanisms observed from the in-situ TEM studies.